White Collar Boxing
by RosieRathbone
Summary: Retired boxer-turned CEO, Edward Cullen, is about to face his biggest challenge yet when he is landed with his teenage daughter for the summer. With the help of his feisty PA, Bella, maybe they can find something to bond over? AH OOC.
1. Bossman

Ready for a new adventure? I know I am.

**CHAPTER ONE**

"_Winners are simply willing to do  
__what losers won't." _

The sound of cheering fades into the distance like a dull hum behind your ears.

Your eyes are trained on the square ring before you. Your cage for the next hour, where anything could happen. You could come out a winner, or you could come out a loser. Just make sure you come out.

Anticipation flows through your body - mix that with excitement and you have one hell of a concoction on your hands.

Your opponent paces side-to-side in their corner. Stare them out; watch their moves - learn their weak spot.

If they have one.

The ring announcer would have done their job; introduce the fighters, call out their stats and continue to get the crowd excited. But again, you don't hear that; you're too busy processing your tactics.

Before you know it the _ding _sounds and round one has begun.

You pace the perimeter of the ring, and wonder who's going to make the first move.

Guard, block, step back, step forward. Punch.

Keep an eye on your prey but keep an eye on the prize.

One false move; that one fraction of a second when you blink or look away.

_Pow._

You're on the floor.

Blood pours from your open cut and pain radiates your bones, but you can't give up. You don't run from the pain like any sane person would do. You step into it.

Your coach steps through the ropes and works their magic on your face.

_"Fuck." _He whispers. It's a bad cut.

_"_What can I do?_"_

Your feet bounce on the floor.

"Don't get hit."

It's such a simple answer, but advice that could save your match.

_Ding._

The next round begins.

_"KEEP YOUR GUARD UP!" _Your coach bellows from the side lines.

You do everything with your balance - you want to move to the left, push on the right toe. You want to step right, push on your left.

Guard, block, step back, step forward. Punch.

You spot a weakness.

Repeat your mantra and focus on that weakness.

_"Fuck, Edward! GUARD!"_

One thing to remember? _Always _keep your guard up. All you need is to drop your guard for one second, and that is now your weakness.

A punch to the face could fracture your jaw and your nose at the same time.

Blood bursts from your face and spots the people that stand beside your cage.

You lose concentration from the hit. Another punch blows the other side of your head.

You feel the canvas of the mat against your tired body.

And before you know it? That's your match done. You lose.

You're out of the sport for weeks as your face tries it's best to repair itself.

Next thing you know, you're out of the sport for years, because you can't find the strength to get back in that ring.

Your whole career is over, because you dropped your guard for a split second.

Some people say the most important thing a fighter can have is heart, but I think I've only met one fighter that is all heart.

And she was barely fifteen years old.

**BELLA - MAY 2014. PRESENT DAY.**

"You can't keep me hanging like this, Bell!" My longest friend and companion, Angela, followed me around the staff cafeteria like a lost puppy and begged me for information I had held back from her all weekend.

"I said I'd tell you later." I opted for a bowl of the soup paired with a bread roll. Ang' did the same, but not without still pestering me.

"This is later! 'C'mon, B, the last thing I saw Friday night was you getting very close 'n' cuddly to the banker on floor 3 and now you won't tell me what happened!"

I found a spare table towards the back of the room where we could have our conversation in private. Ang' doesn't know when to keep her mouth shut, and the last thing I need is for the whole building to find out what may or may not have happened over the weekend. We have to be very careful in this place - even the walls have ears.

"First of all, do you want to keep your _fucking voice down? _Lucky for you there's more than one banker on floor 3. Now, tell me what you think happened."

"Well," Ang sat up straight and cleared her throat for serious effect. "if I know you as well as I think I know you (which is pretty well) I can tell, from what you're wearing, that you received a major dicking this weekend."

I stole a look at the black pencil skirt and grey blouse I usually wore to work. "And pray tell, Sherlock Holmes, how you came to that conclusion."

Her face lit with a smirk. She thought she was right, but I wasn't going to tell her otherwise until I heard the detective's story. "Thanks to the lightness of your blouse, I can see which bra you're wearing today and it's the fancy black one with that lacy trim. And I know you wouldn't wear underwear like that to work unless it was too impress someone. So, seeing as you haven't mentioned another guy in... ooh... months, it has to be for Mr. Banker. I bet you're wearing the matching panties too, right? You dirty slut."  
I had to give her credit - that was a good analysis. "Well done, Ang'; I'm impressed. But unfortunately you're wrong."

She choked on her mouthful of soup. "Wrong? How can I be wrong?!"

"You're wrong because nothing happened Friday night." I couldn't have looked more smug. "I was all for it, until he mentioned how his _wife _was due home any minute."

Ang' covered her mouth with a palm, "oooh, _damn!"_

"Oooh, damn, indeed! I may be many things, Angela, but a home wrecker? I am not. And personally? He'd have been useless anyway," I waved my pinky finger at her, "if that was all he was offering - she can keep him."

The two of us cracked up laughing. I'm such a bitch.

"So... who is the bra for? The Bossman?"

"The Bossman?" I shouted out a laugh, "now you know I could wear a fucking burlap sack and the fucker would still drop to his knees and beg! No - I ran out of my comfies, so this bad boy had to do." I _pinged _the straps of my bra. At the same time, my cell started to vibrate beside me. _BossMan _was displayed on the screen. "Speak of the devil and he shall appear!"

"Hello." It was a response more than a question.

"Can you come upstairs please, Bella."

I peered at the watch on my right wrist and scoffed loudly, "No; I still have twenty minutes of my lunch left." Angela shook her head in disbelief with a small smile playing on her face.

"I don't give a fuck, Bella. I expect you in this office in ten minutes with a fresh coffee in hand. Got it?"

I felt like standing to attention and saluting, but I didn't. "I will be there most promptly, Sir." I hung up the call with a mumbled _'asshole' _added in for good measure.

"If I spoke to Rose like that I'd be out this building faster than I know how."

I packed up my lunch as I replied, "yeah, but we all know Rose is a bitch. I swear she's constantly on the rag. What I don't get is how their father can be the sweetest man on this earth, but his kids are like demon spawn."

Ang' shrugged her shoulders, "one of life's unanswered questions."

"Yep. Better go see what the Bossman wants - probably needs his ass wiped or something. Catch you later, Ang'!"

Her reply came in the form of laughing, "see ya, B."

0-0

I almost crashed into the father of said demon spawn when I left the elevator on the very top floor. Fortunately, for my own sanity, I caught myself from bashing into owner of the entire business and building. "Oh, Mr. Cullen, I'm very sorry." Because he's my Bossman's Bossman if he says 'jump' I ask how high, and double it.

"No blood, no foul, Isabella." He held out his hands - palms facing me. "I'm just coming from seeing my son. He's not in the best of moods, just to forewarn you."

"Don't worry, Mr. Cullen; I'm used to his girly mood swings."

Bossman's Bossman let out a throaty laugh, "don't hesitate to come see me if they continue, Isabella. And call me Carlisle."

_Ooh. First-name-bases with Bossman's Bossman. I'm getting somewhere in this world, guys._

_Rubs hands with excited gleam in eye._

"You've got it, Carlisle." With a caring smile, he allowed me to go and face the wrath of his son.

I dropped off the papers I had picked up on the way, and then continued into his office to see where the fire was.

"I said ten minutes, Bella." He spoke to his computer, then turned to face me, "that means get up here in ten minutes, not take all the time you want."

"I was talking to your father. Now, what do you want?"

Bossman shot me the deadliest glare, but he didn't scare me.

Never has, never will.

"I want you do to exactly as I say." He spat. _Someone needs to get laid... _"I need you to cancel all my appointments for this afternoon - I'm leaving early."

_You've got to be kidding me. _"Is that all you needed me for? I could do that anywhere!"

_I could have finished my fucking soup, asshole._

"I just wanted to see that fine ass of yours." He winked.

"You're a dick." I turned to leave whilst fighting off the smile from our usual banter. He flirts and I flirt back and that's how we've always been.

"Hey! Where's my coffee?" He bellowed. "I was serious about that request."

I spun around on one heel and shot him the bird. "Sit on this, Edward."

His throaty laugh followed me out the office.

0-0

My iPhone _pinged _with a new email as I left the office building. That was one thing I hated about being a PA is how often my cell goes off. It's like all the fuckers are too scared to contact Edward directly. Which... is probably true, but still. However I wouldn't have stayed with his cranky ass for the past five years if it bothered me that much.

**From: Edward A Cullen.**

It read.

**Subject: I need you...  
****Isabella,  
****I need to discuss something with you. Come to the house when you have finished.**

Edward Cullen.  
CEO B&amp;C Agencies New York.

_Isabella? What has he been smoking?_

I quickly worded a reply.

**From: Isabella Swan.  
****Subject: Priorities.  
****Bossman,  
****What do you need this time? I have a date with Angus tonight, and I can't miss it.  
We planned it weeks ago.**

Isabella Swan.  
Assistant to Bossman.

**From: Edward A Cullen.  
****Subject: Angus?  
****You have a date with your cat? Good one, Swan.  
****Don't ask questions, just get your ass here ASAP.**

Edward Cullen.  
CEO B&amp;C Agencies New York.

**From: Isabella Swan.  
****Subject: Furry Friends.  
****Angus and I have a strong bond. You don't understand.  
****And leave my ass out of this.**

Isabella Swan.  
Assistant to Bossman.

**From: Edward A Cullen.  
****Subject: I'm not blind...  
****Like I said earlier, it looked damn fine in that skirt.  
****But seriously, get here.**

Edward Cullen.  
CEO B&amp;C Agencies New York.

**From: Isabella Swan.  
****Subject: Tut Tut.  
****Dirty old man.  
****Fine, see you in a bit.**

Isabella Swan.  
Assistant to Bossman.

0-0

It took longer than usual to get through the New York congestion, but an hour and a half after I left the office block, I arrived outside Edward's lavish home. It didn't look like much from the gates, but if you knew what hid behind that grassy embankment? Man, you'd shit a brick. I let myself in with the memorized four digit code, and drove my car up to the first set of garages.

The smell of freshly cut grass I was met with on opening the car door, told me Edward had had the gardeners 'round. I could only pray that Siobhan was still on duty - I could kill for one of her speciality turkey sandwiches. Oh, and the chili? Fuck, if it was legal to marry food...

My stomach rejoiced at the smell of succulent roast beef that hit me smack in the face when I entered the house. After I chucked away my soup five hours ago, I was starving.

"Good evening, my dear." Siobhan appeared from the kitchen with a blue apron tied around her middle. She was middle aged, with thick, long, ginger hair and a permanent smile on her round face. She was a tall woman, and could look intimidating, but in reality she would never hurt a fly.

"Hello, Siobhan. I hope you saved enough food for me?"

Siobhan let out a hearty chuckle and put an arm around my shoulders. For as long as I have worked with Edward, Siobhan has always treated me like the daughter she never had. And because my own mom lived so far away, I accepted the motherly comfort.

"Of course, Bella. It'll be ready in half an hour."

"Excellent! Enough time for me too see what His Royal Highness wants."

She chuckled again. "Y'know where to find him."

Bossman's loud voice was heard before I reached his office. From the explicit language he used, someone had pissed him off. Big time.

_"You had one job, Ryan! Fuck sake... No, no, no - listen. I expect you to do your job properly, and if you can't achieve that I'll make sure Isabella has your ass replaced by morning... I'm fucking serious. Make sure you clear up that mess by the time I get there tomorrow, or so help me..."_

When it had appeared that he was off the phone, I knocked lightly and entered the room with a bright smile on my face. I had to cheer him up, before it was my own ass on the firing line. "Hey, Boss!" I dropped my bag on the leather couch and took a seat on the spinning chair.

"Isabella." He acknowledged me with a stern nod of his head, and never looked up from the paper work spread out on the desk.

"So... what can I do for you?"

Bossman sighed loudly and opened his mouth to speak, but his words were cut short by the ringing of his phone.

_"Son of a bitch." _He whispered harshly. "Cullen..." He answered just as harshly. "Very good, Ryan... very good. Email Isabella with the details and we'll get that underway." Then he hung up without a word.

"Email me what?"

Edward shoved a fist through his hair. "Something you need to sort out for us."

"And... I don't get more of an explanation than that?"

He let out an angry groan, "just leave it, Isabella."

_I've got a spare tampon if you need one, Boss._

_Jesus Christ._

"Then what am I doing here?" _I have a date with Angus, remember?_

"I received a phone call from Eric Yorkie earlier on."

_I know that name... why do I know that name... Oh, damn!_

"Eric Yorkie as in... Lauren Mallory's lawyer?"

He slammed his fist to the wooden desk. "Do you know anyone else with that name?"

_It was just a question... _

"And anyway, he's no longer her lawyer. He's now her husband."

Without warning, a laugh snorted its way out my mouth, which I caught in the cup of my hand. Edward shot me a glare. "Sorry... thats not funny..." But in reality, it's stinking hilarious. "So why did he ring?"

Bossman had a vein on the side of his head that looked as if it would pop any second. "Why do you think he rang?" He sighed again, to clear out all his pent up rage. "Lillian is doing something in New York this summer - don't ask what, I couldn't give a fuck - and they need me to find a place for her to stay."

"Lily's coming? Aw, I've always wanted to meet her!"

"Isabella, whose side are you on?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," I said, sarcasm thick in my voice. "I thought you would like having your daughter come to stay."

"She's not staying with me! I haven't seen her since she was seven years old; I don't know anything about the kid."

_Asshole._

"How can you be so heartless to a poor little girl?"

"She's fourteen; not a little girl. We're getting off topic now." He looked me straight in the eyes. "I need you to find her a hotel to stay in for the duration of her stay - I don't care where and I don't care how much. Just get it sorted, is that clear?"

The smile on my face couldn't have been more fake. "Crystal."

_You think I'm allowing a vulnerable teenage girl to roam New York on her own? You have another thing coming, Bossman. _

_Get ready for one helluva wake up call. _

0-0

**Yep, Bossman is an ass, and Bella is a feisty little thing.  
****I know things may be confusing, but all will fall into place soon. Tell me your thoughts and whether you'd like to read more?**


	2. Lillian

Hello to new readers! Backbone Bella has clearly made the right impression. Thank you!

**CHAPTER TWO.**

**BELLA.**

6:30am. I was rudely awoken from the incredible dream that had included Ryan Gosling, Channing Tatum and Chris Evans all trying out illegal moves on my body. And what, you may ask, interrupted said fantasy? A phone call from Bossman and an obese cat named Angus. _Way to kick you when you're down, eh? Show you what the real world is like._

My persistent nightmare continued to phone until I found the energy to answer. "Hello?" I said with a yawn.

_"Good morning, Bella."_

"Bossman, this better be important 'cause I was thoroughly enjoying that dream." Angus stretched his giant stomach out on the bed, then curled up in a ball and went back to sleep. The jealously that seeped through me was unreal. Yeah, you get yourself comfy. You selfish bastard.

_"Was I in this dream?"_

"Ew. Christ, no."

_"Then you couldn't have _thoroughly _enjoyed it, could you?" _I swear I heard the wink he added at the end of that sentence.

"Was there a reason for this call?" I asked in frustration.

_"Yes. I now have a very important meeting at 9am. I expect you to have coffee on arrival and visitor passes in reception for 8:45. There will be six of us in total."_

_"_Are you deliberately trying to ruin me? You know fine well I won't be in till ten because I have everything to sort out for Lily's arrival."

_"Well then I suggest you get started. See you here in an hour."_

He hung up the phone before I could complain. Looked like my morning had taken an early start. Even though I could easily disobey his rules without the fear of firing me - he wouldn't have the heart - I didn't want to put that idea in his head. So, choosing my morning playlist on Spotify, I reluctantly left my bed and went for a quick shower. My playlist consists of the one girl band that always brings my mood up first thing in the morning.

Spice Girls.

_Oh yeah, the girl power level is high in this house._

_I always wanted to be Sporty Spice... _

_But that crop top-sweat pants-high pony tail look? Nuh-uh. Not working for ya, Mel._

Knowing the day I would have, I dressed in smart comfies - AKA faux leather leggings, maroon blouse and maroon heeled ankle boots. I looked smart, sophisticated, and would be comfortable for when I have to, undoubtedly, run around New York. Simple.

Of course, I sang the Spice Girls as I got dressed. Angus got fed up with my renditions and took his fat ass elsewhere. But can you blame me? They make it so easy to sing along too!

The only thing you need to remember is to stop singing when you answer the phone... or else the person on the other end might get the wrong impression.

"...'Cause tonight, is the night, when two become one..."

_"Isabella?"_

_Oops._

"Oh, hey Bossman."

_"Shit, Bella, I should have said; I can't make it tonight."_

"Ha-fucking-ha. You witty, witty, bastard." I deadpanned. 'Cause it wasn't funny.

Okay, maybe a little... but don't tell him that.

0-0

I grabbed a toasted cinnamon bagel and coffee from a vender outside the office block, and managed to reach the top floor by 7:35. God I'm good. After the embarrassment on the phone, I had no need to see Edward, so I kept quiet, processed all the passes we needed for the meeting and ate my breakfast in private.

I managed to stay out of his presence until the men arrived at promptly 9am, I welcomed them and led them into Edward's office.

"Thank you, Isabella."

I smiled like the sweet PA I was, even had to stop myself from curtsying. "You're welcome, Sir."

It lasted long into the morning, and I didn't hear signs of them leaving until mid-day when Edward asked for me to ring their drivers. The entire time they were hauled in that office, I was back and forth on the phone to Eric Yorkie. He informed me of Lily's arrival in the next few days, and had me verify flight times and whether a driver would be present to collect her. I reassured him that someone would happily collect her from the airport.

He didn't ask where she was staying, and for that I was glad, because I would have had to lie. Edward thinks she'll be moved from one hotel to another for the entire two months of her stay. But that isn't entirely the truth...

Well, it's not the truth at all.

For the past five years I have been responsible for every Christmas card and birthday card and the fifty dollars that were slipped inside. I became a pro at signing Edward's name. He never realized I sent them.

He never asked me when her birthday was, and never mentioned sending anything for Christmas, so why bother telling him? From our secret card exchange, I became attached to Little Lillian. I haven't spoken to her properly before, but I still became attached. And when Edward said that she was coming, and didn't care where she stayed, I knew I had to do something.

Any place is dangerous for a girl her age, especially if they'd never been there before, so a hotel was out of the question. I considered her staying with me, but it didn't seem right. What did seem right, however, was her staying with her father... A father who would soon find out what he'd been missing.

Yes, Edward would hate me and if he fired me for anything, it was probably that, but I couldn't live with myself if I left her stranded. The only thing was how to tell Edward. If I kept it a secret and she turned up outside his house I would be out of this job for sure, so I needed to tell him.

_Hmm... maybe I should sweet talk him... put me in his good books before I let the cat out the bag. That might just work. _

The ringing of my phone broke that thought. It was time to get back into a professional mode.

I spoke my perfected line: "Good afternoon; Brandon and Cullen agencies New York, Isabella speaking. How may I help?"

_"I wish to talk to Edward Cullen."_

I fought back the urge to add, "_what's the magic word?" _Some people treat me like shit on their shoe, and that really gets on my tits.

"May I ask who's calling, please?"

_"Michael Newton. B&amp;C Houston."_

Bossman's Bossman (AKA, my new friend, Carlisle) started up the business with his college roommate, Nicholas Brandon, several years ago. The company took off and now they have countless agencies all over the country. Our New York agency is the only one run by family - Edward and his bitch of a sister, Rosalie. I think Nicholas' daughter works for them somewhere but I don't know that much.

"Certainly, Mr. Newton, I'll put you straight through."

I put our call on hold and buzzed through to Edward.

"_Yes, Bella?"_

"Bossman, Mr. Newton is on line three for you."

_"Excellent... Okay, put him through, Bella."_

_Snigger snigger._

_He hates that guy._

The second my phone was free, it rang again. But this time it was Angela asking whether I wanted to grab lunch from somewhere other than the cafeteria. She mentioned how she had to get out of the building and would appreciate a ranting session. I accepted her proposal and said I would let her know when I was leaving.

Half an hour later, my stomach started to rumble and I too had a serious case of cabin fever. I knocked politely on the glass door that separated my office to Bossman's before entering. He was busy on his BlackBerry and pointed a finger to say he won't be a minute.

"I expect that to come to a total of thirty-thousand. That must be paid before the end of the night, correct?" Bossman clicked his pen rhythmically - a sure sign that whoever he was speaking too had annoyed him in some way. With a nod of his head, he ended the conversation. "Make sure that gets seen too." He turned his attention to me and smiled. It was comforting to see a caring smile on his face. I prayed he had the same expression when I broke the news about Lily later.

"I'm going for lunch. Do you want anything?"

Bossman stared at the papers that littered his desk. He blew out a tiring sigh. "No thank you - I best stay and get this cleared. Enjoy your lunch."

0-0

"I don't get it, Ang'." I said whilst elegantly picking pepperoni from my back molar. So attractive. "One minute he's all '_do this, do that. I fucking hate you. Blah, blah, blah.' _Then the next he's smiling and acting like my best friend. I think he's bipolar."

Angela slurped on her Coke. As you can tell we're not those skinny bitches that ask for an iced water and green salad - _sans dressing; I'm trying to lose a few pounds. _Screw that. We're proper human beings. Y'know, the type that order full fat Coke and greasy pizza.

"You never know, Bell; maybe it's him that's on the rag."

I chewed my mouthful of food. "No... I've already offered him a tampon."

She barked out a laugh, "you really are one of a kind."

I shrugged, 'cause I knew that already. Then wiped the excess tomato sauce off my lips. "So tell me, what's Princess Cullen been doing to get you so worked up?"

"Urgh!" She groaned. "Where do I start? Well you know that guy she's been banging? The one that fixed her car?"

"Macho Man?"

"Yeah, him. Everyday this week he has been coming to her office and the building may be well built, but damn those walls are thin! I think I'll crack if I hear them giving it one for the team against that wall."

I had to laugh, because only Angela would get pissed at people having a sex life, when she doesn't. But then would I enjoy Edward slamming some chick up against our frosted glass? _Eurgh, God no._

"Then she gave me a foot-long list of shit to do before tomorrow morning when she knows fine well I won't manage that. Next she'll tell me to take her fucking dogs to the groomers, and she doesn't even have _a fucking dog_! Apart from herself. Bitch."

_Woooah, calm down, Miss Weber. _

"I know it's not easy, Ang', but don't let her get to you. I think Princess appreciates you more than she lets on, or else she wouldn't trust you with all that work."

Angela scoffed. "I don't think so. It's her job to make me miserable and mentally scarred."

0-0

I told Ang' about Lily and she agreed one-hundred percent that I shouldn't find a hotel for her and that she should stay with Edward. I then discussed how to sweet talk him.

"You could give him a strip tease and lap dance."

"Yep, and finish that off with a blow job?"

"Perfect, then check out the sturdiness of his desk."

"Plan! Oh wait, Edward's got his period at the moment, remember?"

"Oh yeah, _fuck."_

"I'll just have to buy his favorite lunch instead." The two of us looked at each other and at the same time we cracked up laughing. "I'll have visions of that all day now!" I laughed harder.

"Oh, B; like you don't picture that already"

_Dammit, she knows me too well. What? Gotta give the guy credit - he was born with the body of a god. It would be wrong _not _to think that way once or twice. A day._

0-0

Bossman was leaning back on his chair with feet rested up on the desk. His arm was flopped over his head. I half expected a cigarette between two fingers and a bottle of Grey Goose half empty beside him. But he doesn't smoke so screw that idea. I had a large chili cheese steak sub and fries in a paper bag - Siobhan makes sure Edward only eats the best food, and never allows any of this processed shit in the house. I had hoped the treat would have been enough for my sweet talking, but when I saw the state he was in, I soon thought I should have gone down the strip tease and blow job route.

"Hey, Boss!"

My overly-cheery entrance spooked Edward from his slumber and he sat up with a startle. "Hello, Bella." Two fingertips rubbed the sides of his temple. "How was your lunch?"

"It was good. What's going on here, then?"

"Nothing; I've sorted it." _You will tell me one of these days, Bossman._

Then it was time to work my magic. Or, attempt to. "How about this to cheer you up?" I announced enthusiastically bringing the paper bag out from my own bag. "Your favorite chili cheese steak!"

Bossman's eyes lit up like a small child on Christmas morning. I swear I spotted a line of drool that slipped from his mouth. "You know the way to a mans' heart, Bella."

_Yeah - through his stomach._

I shrugged with a _it-was-nothing _look. "I understand how much you've had on your shoulders recently."

As he devoured the _absolutely-everything-artificial _sandwich, I found interest in the various awards on his wall and vast collection of antique books. _"_You're hovering."

_Nothing gets past you does it, Bossman?_

"I'm not hovering. I'm just, um..."

He peered down at the sandwich then slowly rose his gaze to me. "Okay, what do you want?"

My hand theatrically covered my chest. "You think I would buy lunch because I _want something? _Edward I'm hurt that you would think that."

_Christ, why am I not an actress? _

"I wasn't born yesterday; do you think I'm really that stupid? Don't answer that." I continued on with my fake interest until Bossman snapped. "Okay, spit it out."

_This is not going the way I had imagined. _

"Fine! I need to talk to you about Lily."

I spotted the eye-roll from where I stood. "What now? Have you found a place for her stay?" He sounded irritated.

_Shit! My plan didn't work!_

_Is it too late to strip? Perhaps a little fondle of the balls? _

"Um... yeah, I've found a place."

"Then what is the problem?" I hesitated for too long. "Bella..."

I took a deep breath, "she will be staying with you."

I felt the pause in the air and heard the traffic from far down below almost like it was right outside the window.

"That is not what we discussed. Lillian is not staying with me." Edward stood from his desk and stepped around to get to me. I wasn't sure if he did it to seem intimidating, but like I've said; Bossman doesn't scare me.

"And she is not staying in some hotel!" I may be a lot smaller than him, but that didn't mean I had no voice.

"Isabella don't argue with me on this. Lillian is my daughter, not yours."

_Fucking really, Boss? _

_"_Oh, she's your daughter now is she? And is that how we look after our children? Leave them stranded in one of the busiest cities?"

That vein in his forehead? Yeah, it popped up again.

"Isabella..." He warned. "If you know what's good for you, you'd stop talking."

"Or what, huh? What would you do? Fire me? You'd never fire me."

He pointed a firm finger at me. "Don't put that idea in my head."

"Actually you know what? If you want to fire me, go ahead and do it. I'd rather not have a job and know that she was safe."

Edward shook his head, "you don't even know Lillian."

"That isn't the point! I know that she's 14 and a glowing target for any rapist and murderer! She's staying with you Edward and that is the end of it!"

He wasn't offering anything else onto the table, so I took that as argument over - I won.

I left his office feeling like Jim Carrey in 'Bruce Almighty'. _I've got the power!_

_Except I'm not God. _

_...Yet._

0-0

Bossman and I didn't speak for the few days following that argument. I only buzzed through to his office if there was a call waiting, and he got a notification on his computer saying that I had signed off of mine, so I didn't have to tell him I was going for a break. I spoke to Siobhan and she happily assisted me with cleaning one of Bossman's spare bedrooms for Lily. We even took a girly trip to town to buy her bed covers. Spent Boss's money of course.

I even offered to pick her up from the airport. I spoke to Edward then and told him I was taking the afternoon off to collect her. He mumbled something incoherently. The immature little shit that he is.

I arrived at JFK just as her flight arrived and with her name sign under one arm, I dashed around the busy airport in search for arrivals. I held out my **Lily Mallory **sign and waited for the crowd to appear.

Turns out I didn't need the sign, because as soon as she walked through the doors, I knew who she was. With sleek hair that fell just past her shoulders in a bronze color, strong facial features and black rimmed glasses - holy crap, she was Bossman's kid.

She wore a black crop top with Pikachu on the front, high-waisted skinny denim jeans and violet Doc Martens. Cute kid.

"Hey, Lily." I beamed, "I'm Bella; I'm so happy to meet you."

Lily offered me a very weak smile in return. "Hi..."

"Sorry - I understand you've probably never heard of me. I work with your dad - I'm the PA that makes sure he doesn't mess up." Again all she gave me was a timid expression. "How was your flight?" I asked, in need to change the subject.

"It was good. But very long."

"I hate flying; I'd rather drive across the country."

Lily giggled and nodded her head. "I've never been this far from home before."

"Trust me, kid; once you've witnessed New York at its finest, you'll never want to leave." _But when you witness your father at his finest, you'll never want to come back._

I took her luggage for her and the two of us started for the parking lot. "I've seen so much of New York on TV and online," Lily perked up, "there is so much I want to do."

"I'll make sure you get to experience it all. Whatever you want to do, we'll do it."

"Thanks, Bella." I understood why she was shy and slightly hesitant, but I hoped she'd come out her shell during her stay. I could tell she'd be amazing to have around.

When we climbed into the car, I handed her my business card - including personal number. "Here. You can get me on these numbers at any time of the day, okay? Even if you need a girly chat, just gimme a call. I'll be your personal assistant this summer, got it?"

Lily nodded again. "Got it. Thank you, but what about my dad? What if you're busy at work?"

"Meh," I flipped my hand, "he can throw his toys and have a tantrum in the corner; I don't give a shit."

I heard her gasp, "do you speak to him like that?"

I turned my head and winked, "Kid, I speak to everyone like that."

0-0

When we arrived at Bossman Manor the look on Lily's face was a picture. It was as if I had dropped her off outside Buckingham Palace. _You're not having tea with the Queen, love. _It was a large two story, white brick house with slanted roofs and a small porch. On entering the gates below, you follow a winding brick path that passes two sets of garages and grassy embankments. With hidden lights built into the path, at night the house looked incredible.

But the back was my favorite. Not only do you have more grass and open land, but at the very top end of the yard are a set of stone steps which lead you to a cobbled court yard. On the left you have another two story house (a quarter of the size of the main home). Followed onto that is an indoor gym and swimming pool and a patio set for outdoor dining. That whole arrangement is for staff or guests that come to stay. Edward barely goes over there.

"I'll have someone give you a guarded tour."

"I've never..." Lily was in awe. Her head constantly flipped around to take it all in.

"Yeah, you'll get used to it, Kid."

I lead Lily inside, and met Siobhan who had been waiting patiently in the hall. "Lily, this is Siobhan; she does all the cooking - tell her what you want for any meal and she'll have it done for you."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Lily." Siobhan had been just as excited as I was when we heard of her arrival.

"It's nice to meet you." She replied.

"Siobhan makes the best chili. I'm already engaged to it." Another giggle came from Lily, "She's my Momma Bear, and gives the best hugs - don't hesitate to ask for one."

"Okay."

"There's other members of staff you'll see roaming about the place, but we'll introduce you to them at a later date."

"Oh." Siobhan spoke suddenly, peering out the window. I copied her move and was shocked to see Bossman's driver coming up the path. Bossman was home early.

Things were about to get interesting.

0-0

**Lily has arrived! What do you think of our new character? See you next Monday!**

**X**


	3. Rocket

Thank you for giving our Lily a warm welcome. You guys are awesome. Now, is Bossman the same?

**CHAPTER THREE.**

**BELLA.**

I was surprised at Lily's reaction to Edward's sudden arrival. I spotted the nerves which were only expected, but excitement also shined behind her eyes. She was about to see her dad for the first time in seven years, and she was so excited. It killed me to know that he didn't share those feelings.

The front door opened - Lily gasped at the sight of Edward staring at the three of us. In the corner of my eye, she took a tiny step forward. I knew he wouldn't crouch to his knees and open out his arms, but she didn't. Bossman peered at his cell phone, like that was more important than us. It was clear that he'd rather be anywhere else.

"Edward." I stepped towards the constant pain in my rear end and distracted him from his cell phone. "Lily has been looking forward to seeing you again." My words held emphasis. Or, at least I hoped they did.

Bossman looked over at Lily and nodded his usual stern nod - the same he welcomes business partners with. "Hello Lillian."

Her previous excitement had all but vanished. "Hi..." Siobhan put a comforting arm around the young girl.

"I'll be in my office, Isabella - I expect no disturbances." He disappeared down the hallway without a second glance at his now quivering daughter. I had never felt so much hatred for that man until that moment.

"Lil'," I bent down slightly and brushed her hair out of her face. She chewed nervously on a thumb nail.

"What did I do, Bella?"

_Oh, Lily, don't break my heart._

"You didn't do anything - trust me. Bossman is usually dismissive like that." She left her thumb nail alone, and started on another finger.

"You got me, Kid?" Lily nodded very lightly. "Good. You stay with Siobhan and try out those hugs I bragged about." Siobhan and I made eye contact. "I'll be back shortly."

For the first time in a long time, I didn't knock before entering Bossman's office. I was too angry to obey his rules. The heavy wooden door swung open to reveal Bossman slouching on the leather couch. Edward's suit jacket had been draped over the back of his couch and his tie now lay loose down his chest.

"I thought I said no disturbances."

I stormed into the room. "I don't give a shit what you said, Edward. How dare you! How dare you treat her like something under your shoe. Was that welcome entirely necessary?"

Edward groaned as he sat up straight. "You knew what my thoughts were on Lillian staying with me."

I walked backwards and forwards; tearing a hole in the carpet. "Yes, and I made the right decision bringing her here, but that doesn't mean you need to be a complete bastard to her." He never offered me a response. "Did you see her face when you walked in the door?"

"Can't say I was looking in that direction, no."

"Then you didn't see what I saw. I saw a young girl who had been without her father for years, finally with the chance to see him again. She was so excited... and then you shot her down." I slapped my thighs, "how could you do that to her?!"

Bossman held out his hand. "Isabella, don't."

"No! You need to realize what you've got! You have a little girl _begging _for your attention and you're doing nothing about it!"

"You know my reasons why, Isabella."

"Yes, I know why you're so reserved, but you don't have to be!" With a deep sigh, I sat on the other half of the couch. "Look, I would give anything to spend five minutes with my Dad, but the day he died... I lost that ability. No longer could he offer me comfort in the form of a warm hug. I couldn't pick up the phone and tell him my exciting news."

This had taken a dramatic turn, but I had to make Bossman understand.

"You have that privilege and you're throwing it away! What happened fourteen years ago with Lauren was dreadful, and I don't condone that, but neither do I condone making Lily the victim. What did she do to deserve this?"

"Isabella..." He warned, "I'm not telling you again."

"Fine!" I cried and stood from my seat. "Don't listen to me, but she is staying here until she goes home." I turned to leave, but before I reached the door I looked over my shoulder and added something else in just the same final tone. "I'm trying to help you here, but if you don't want to listen that's fine by me. Just don't come crying to me when she leaves and you realize what a fool you were."

0-0

Siobhan was alone in the kitchen when I finished in Bossman's office. She was stirring a large pot of... _something. _I dunno, it smelt like fucking heaven though. "Where is she?" I asked of Lily.

"I showed her up to her room. The poor girl has had a long day; she needs a nap."

I nodded, "I know - can only hope she manages to relax here."

Siobhan rested the wooden spoon against the ridge of the pot and its handle. "Did you speak to Edward?"

_Eurgh, don't mention the bastard._

"Yep, but if he takes any of it in is another story."

Her motherly hand sat on my shoulder and patted it once, twice, three times. "You have such a large heart, Bell. Don't listen to what Bossman says or does; I know Lily appreciates everything you're doing for her."

I shrugged, "someone's gotta look out for the kid." Siobhan nodded and began to dice an onion. "So, chef, what is on the menu for tonight?"

"Lasagne." Was her reply.

"But... Edward doesn't like lasagne..."

_'Cause the man is strange, y'know? I mean, who in their right mind doesn't like lasagne? _

_Fucking weird._

Siobhan gave me a knowing smile, "I know, but Lily does."

_See this woman? I love her. A helluva lot._

"Ooh, that's why I love you, Momma Bear!" I hugged her sideways with a tight squeeze. Siobhan just laughed and patted my head.

"I know you do. Now, go look after that girl; I'll call you down when dinner is ready."

0-0

Bossman had four spare bedrooms in his house - one for when his parents come to stay, one for other members of the family, and the last two had no purpose. They were just there to make the place look pretty. I chose the nicest of the last two rooms for Lily. At least he can't be mad at me for taking his family's bedrooms. Once he knew about her staying, I double-checked to see if he wouldn't mind us adding a bit of color to the walls. He waved it off and didn't reply. So I took that as a yes.

We got to work - added a orange-red wallpaper with large patterned circle. The other three walls were just orange-red in color. The bed linen already matched the decor, so added some red striped cushions for the bed as well as the window seat that looks over the entire garden and straight into the surrounding trees. I always loved that room, and imagined myself sitting there for hours with a book or my own thoughts.

_Or a strong drink. 'Cause Goddamn he makes me need one._

It also was the only available room that came an ensuite. Pure white walls with dark tiled flooring and a full-wall mirror. Open shower with glass walls, and a large bath in front of the old fashioned fire place. It was nicer than my own bathroom at home.

_Lifestyles of the rich and famous... right?_

"Knock knock." I rapped my knuckles off the door. After a short while, she made a sound which told me I was welcome to go in. Lily was sitting on the edge of her bed with a classic old-school iPod on her lap. "How you doing, Kid?"

Lily wrapped the wires around her iPod, "yeah, I'm okay."

_One thing you don't know about me: I'm fluent in bullshit._

"yeah, I'm okay" _Actually means "I've never felt more alone, but thanks for asking."_

I should write a dictionary, man. I'll call it '_Bella's Book of Bullshit. Part One."_

"I hope you like the color red," I surveyed the walls, "Momma Bear and I went slightly overboard with the decor."

A giggly-laugh came from Lily. "I like it. Thank you."

_Yep, yep, I'll take that._

"What were you listening too?"

"Um," she pushed on the frames of her glasses, "Brantley Gilbert. He's a country artist."

"Oh yeah; I think I've heard of him. You are country fan, then?" As I asked this, I stole a seat on the stools in front of her bed. I didn't want to make her uncomfortable, but she didn't seem to be.

"Yeah, I like lots of music though."

Before I could reply, my cell phone rang. I rolled my eyes and Lily giggled again. "24 hour job this one, Kid."

I went straight into professional Bella mode. "Isabella Swan speaking."

_"Isabella, it's Harold Jenner here."_

It was a rarity for me to like Edward's clients, (most of them were stuck up assholes who think they're the bee's fucking knees 'cause they have money) but Harold and his wife are little sweethearts. He reminds me of Santa Claus with a fluffy white beard and large belly, and his wife is a small bird-like woman who recently had to start using a crutch to help her get around.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Jenner, how are you today?"

_"I'm just fine thank you, my dear. Is it possible to speak to Mr. Cullen? I can't get through to his phone line."_

"Absolutely, Mr. Jenner. I'll contact Mr. Cullen right now and have him give you a call, okay?"

_"That's magic. Thank you, Isabella."_

I hung up the call and instantly tapped into my email application.

**From: Isabella Swan.  
****Subject: DIY.**

**Bossman,  
****Mr. Jenner called wanting to speak to you. Turn your phone on. I'm too busy taking care of **your daughter **to deal with your calls.**

Isabella Swan  
Assistant to Bossman.

His reply was almost instantaneous.

**From: Edward A Cullen.  
****Subject: Re: DIY.**

**Thank you for doing that.**

Edward Cullen.  
CEO B&amp;C Agencies New York.

See, that is when Bossman confuses the shit out of me.

_Thank you for doing that._

What is he thanking me for? I don't understand.

Is he thanking me for taking the call and passing on the message, or thanking me for looking after Lily? Or both? I don't know. He never makes any sense.

It's all clues and riddles with that man.

"Do you like your job?" Asked Lily, breaking me from my thoughts.

"Um... yeah, I suppose I do. But, like every job, it has its ups and downs."

She nodded, "and... do you like working with my Dad?"

One thing I loved about this kid, no matter how long it had been since she last saw him, she still calls him 'dad'. He has done nothing to earn that title, but she calls him that regardless.

"Bossman is just like the job, Kid - he has his ups and downs, too. We could go from shouting at each other to crying with laughter, but he's not a bad guy. You've just gotta know how to work him."

The conversation went quiet, so I started another one. I asked her what she was doing here for the summer, and what she had planned. Her hair made a wall to hide her face, her hands twitched. "You'll laugh." Lily mumbled.

That caught my attention. She was so quick to assume things. "How do you know I'd laugh?"

"Because everyone else does. Even my own mother thinks I'm too weak to continue."

_Everyone else does...Too weak to continue..._

You gotta gimme something else, Kid.

"Lily, I promise not to laugh. I'm gonna find out anyway."

She hesitated longer, but after some more persuasion, I got the answer from her.

"I'm, er, taking part in a boxing camp."

_Boxing? Well, I'll be damned._

"Really?"

_That can't be a coincidence... can it?_

"I know it's silly, but I got hooked on it."

"Left or right?" I winked, Lily laughed into her hands, "you walked straight into that one, Lil. Sorry, you were saying?"

"Yes. My mom told me about Dad -."

"-She _told you _about him?"

Lily huffed and flipped her hands, "okay, she told me once I found the newspaper clippings in her back closet."

_Lauren kept newspaper clippings? Why would she do that?_

"And what did she say?"

"Not a lot - she said that he boxed, so I did my own research. I saw the clip when he won state champion, and the matches after that...then when it all ended. But it interested me so I decided to give it a go."

I noticed the slip in her voice - she sounded guilty for him ending it. As much as I wanted to explain that she had no reason to feel like that, I knew it was not my place to intervene. Instead, I tried to make her feel better about it.

"You any good then?"

A tiny grin marked her young face. "I know what I'm doing," she admitted with a lift of her shoulders.

_Something told me she was being no slouch about that._

"And what about a boxer name? You got one of them?"

After working with Bossman, I had picked up a few things. We once spent an afternoon researching the strangest nicknames - like 'The Ding-A-Ling Man' and 'She Be Stinging'. Everyone has gotta have one.

"Well, my coach calls me Rocket - because I'm like a little fire cracker in the ring." She sounded so proud of her name. And it suited her - yeah she was nervous and anxious but I could see her being a badass and a feisty little thing.

I punched her shoulder lightly with my fist, "tough nut. Just promise me that I get to see a match sometime this summer, okay Rocket?"

For the first time since she arrived, a genuinely happy smile beamed over her entire face. "Deal."

0-0

Dinner was awkward, what with Bossman picking at his lasagne like a stubborn child and Lily not sure whether to ask him something or not. Bossman did not stay for long, and ordered me to tell him before I left for the night. I went to do just that and found him on his couch again with a glass of some fiery-looking liquid on the side table. He hadn't noticed me standing there when I first arrived. I don't think.

He was peering at something in his hands; from what I saw, it looked like paper. Suddenly, in one quick move, the paper was scrunched up into ball and his head fell back onto the couch. A thumb and forefinger rubbed his eyes like he did when he was tired or had a headache. I couldn't decipher which one it was. Blindly, he felt for the glass of whiskey, rose it to his mouth and downed the drink in one quick gulp.

_"Fuck. What am I doing?" _He asked himself. The paper ball was then chucked away from him. Due to the position of the couch and the position of the door, the ball stopped just short from me.

Because I'm nosey, and he still had one hand over his eyes, I took that as my opportunity to understand his sudden mood swing, so I grabbed the paper ball and hid back behind the wall. I opened up the paper ball to reveal a photo. A photo which left me breathless and in the need of a hug and a good cry.

The picture was of Edward and Lily the last time he saw her. Well I assumed it was Edward - the man had a copy of Stuart Little opened up which covered his face. Lily lay tight next to him, completely engrossed in the book her father was reading. She had a number of teddies around her, but none of them interested her more than the man to her right.

_Why did Bossman have this? Has he always had it? Why did it make him act like that back there __in the room? _

None of it made any sense, but I was determined to find out.

0-0

**Not as humorous as normal, but we had tough subjects this time, got me?**

**To see Edward's picture, a photo of what Lily looks like, or you're just interested in my rambles, come join my Facebook group! RosieRathbone FanFiction :)**

**What are your thoughts? Let me know!**

**x**


	4. Lauren

As much as I want the whole story to be Bella's POV, I felt it only right to hear what is going through the mind of our little teenager.

An important chapter with clues hinting towards Edward's strange attitude.

**CHAPTER FOUR.**

**LILY  
**When I first saw the coaching club advertised, I could only dream what that would be like. I could spend the summer away from the norm, doing something that I love. I mentioned it to my boxing club and everybody agreed that I should go because it would be a great experience for me and I would have been good enough to get in. But I knew it wasn't as simple as saying 'okay' and packing a bag. Not only did I have to earn a place, I also had to get Mom to agree.

_"Lil, you know I don't have the money for that."_

I can't remember a time when money was ever on our side. My clearest memory was Christmas when I was eight years old. I had found out about Dad's career in Boxing and the only thing that I wanted that year from Father Christmas was a pair of boxing gloves just like Dad's. He was supposed to come and see me the following summer, but... that never happened. _Anyway, _I hoped and hoped that Santa received my letter and delivered me the gloves, so I could have shown them to Dad when he visited me.

Christmas morning came, but there were no gloves under the tree. In fact, there was nothing to do with boxing under the tree whatsoever all I received were hand-me-down dresses from various cousins and scary looking dollies. Mom fed me some bullshit lie that Santa didn't have the right material to make them. But that evening, I overheard her on the phone. She was talking to my Granny, then it slipped out that she could barely afford presents and there was no chance in hell she was spending money on a _boys _present, or anything linked to my Dad. That was the year I found out Santa was just one giant lie.

Mom never approved of my fascination with boxing - "_it's because of that damn sport that your father didn't stick around" - _she'd repeat that over and over. I often wondered how true her words were, because according to the papers, Dad gave it up just after I was born... but I never had the opportunity to ask him. Mom never gave me the money for classes where I could learn how to box, so I taught myself by copying moves I found on the internet or in library books until I saved up the money to join the class myself.

_"But if I get picked, it's $500 cheaper!" _

_"Have you lost your mind, Lily? You're lucky I can even put food in your stomach."_

"_But this is what I want to do. I want to box."_

_"And I want to be a supermodel; sometimes we don't get what we want."_

So I went back to being Little Loner Lily. Who spent most of her time tucked upstairs jabbing the air and practicing footwork in front of the mirror. Then Eric came into the equation. He had been Mom's lawyer since I was a baby, and then when I was thirteen years old, they put an end to that and started dating instead. I've never liked Eric, and seeing that he's almost double Mom's age, I knew exactly what she saw in him. His bank balance.

Before I knew it, Mom had a giant rock on her ring finger and they announced they were getting married within the next couple months. Like that would effect me - they never included me in anything anyway. I walked into the kitchen one morning as they were discussing their honeymoon. Eric offered a trip around the world - _visit the places you have always wanted to see. We can spend the summer together; just the two of us -. _Not once did they discuss what I would do during those months, but I had the answer.

_"I could go to New York for the boxing club. I could stay with Dad..."_

Mom shot up from her seat. _"Oh! No - no, I'm not allowing that. You're not spending the summer with him."_

_"Lauren, darling, she wouldn't need to stay with him. She can stay in a hotel. It'll be a step-father treat - me paying for the fee." _I wanted to say that he'd never be my 'step-father', but I kept my mouth shut. _"It's short notice, but I'm sure we can work something out. I'll ring Mr. Cullen."_

And that was pretty much how I got here now. Trundling my suitcase through the airport in search for a lady who was supposed to pick me up. Bella intimidated me slightly - she had a tiny body, but a huge mouth. Not that I was complaining, the amount she spoke in the time it took to drive from the airport to Dad's house, was more than Mom spoke to me in the previous week put together. She made me laugh and I felt incredibly relaxed around her. I hoped we would become good friends in my time here.

Dad's house was... a fantasy home. I didn't know until I met Bella that I was staying with Dad, and I couldn't have been happier. I was so excited to show him how much I had improved in boxing. Hopefully he would have been proud of me. But that happiness didn't last long, and my hopes and dreams were smashed when he barely looked in my direction and never said a word to me. I had just left a home where I'm treated like filth, and entered another where I was made to feel even worse.

0-0

I spoke to Siobhan - or, 'Momma Bear' as Bella told me to call her - and we planned out what my favorite meals were and whether I had a preference for breakfast. I couldn't believe she would do that for me, I'd never had anyone who'd willingly make my meals for me before. She said that it's her job and what she has the most pleasure in doing. I was told that if I ever felt hungry to help myself and take whatever I want from the kitchen. I had noticed the cupboards were full of food, and Siobhan kept a mouth-watering selection of ice cream in the freezer.

I made note to try every one in my time here.

I felt like Charlie when he entered Willy Wonka's chocolate factory; food everywhere. More so than I have ever seen in one kitchen. Available to take when I wanted it, and not when Mom decided.

I woke up early on my first morning - excited to start the day. I wasn't sure what was going to happen, but it had to be fairly exciting, surely. Downstairs, I noticed Dad was talking to Siobhan about something and eating a greasy-looking cooked breakfast consisting of bacon, sausage and eggs sunny side up.

"Good morning, Lily! Did you sleep well?" Siobhan greeted me with the warmest of smiles and started fixing my breakfast.

"Yes, thank you." I turned my attention warily to the end of the table. "Good morning, Dad."

I could see his shoulders stiffen in response. Probably because I called him 'Dad'. He wiped his mouth free of any egg yolk and cleared his throat with a quick cough. "Morning, Lillian."

It didn't bother me that he called me 'Lillian', I only hoped he would come to learn that I hate that name.

Siobhan passed over my plate of scrambled eggs with brown toast. I thanked her, and reached for the bottle of tomato ketchup that I could tell, from Dad's empty plate, is a must-have on the breakfast table.

"Oh, not another that likes that stuff!" Siobhan proclaimed. "I thought you would know better than to eat ketchup." She had a glimmer in her eye, which told me she was only pretending.

"Well I know you didn't get that from Lauren." Both of us swung our heads round when Dad spoke up. It was the most I had heard him speak in seven years. That fact alone was enough to cause a few stray tears to start swimming in my eyes. "What?" He asked at our shocked glances, "she never touched the stuff."

"N-no, she buys it now. It's cheap and shuts me up."

It would have been wiser had I not said that, but the words came out before my filter caught them. Dad and Siobhan tuned into what I had said. "It shuts you up?" Dad repeated.

"Um... yes. Mom thinks if I have ketchup I won't complain about the meals I'm given."

"Why would you complain about the food? Lauren knew how to cook."

_Just because she knows how to cook, doesn't mean she puts the effort in._

"It, um... it..." I couldn't think of the perfect excuse, so I ignored his question instead. "It doesn't matter."

"Hmm. I'm off to work. Have a good day." Dad shut down again. For those short two minutes, I had thought we were getting somewhere, but apparently not. He had his cell against his ear before he left the kitchen. "Isabella." he said harshly. "My office in ten minutes I-..." The main door slammed shut.

0-0

I learnt that on the days Dad stays at work the whole time, Siobhan cleans the kitchen and then goes home until he requires his dinner in the evening. She asked me whether she would prefer she stayed at home here with me, but I declined. I also found out that Siobhan's home is the house at the bottom of the yard. Did she have a family that lived there too? I didn't know, but I wanted to find out.

I was unpacking the last of my suitcase, when I came across the white envelope that held all the details for the summer club. Because of the short notice, I hadn't had the time to properly read through everything it said, so I stole that moment to do just that. After a general introduction it held a grid with all my needed details included.

**Name: **Lillian Mallory  
**Gender: **F  
**DOB: **07/21/1999  
**Age: **14  
**Weight: **103lbs  
**Height: **5'1"  
**Class: **Light Flyweight  
**Amateur/Pro: **Amateur  
**Coach: ** Jacob Black

At the bottom it had a note saying we were to contact our coaches as soon as we arrive so we can get a meeting set up and start the boot camp. _Oops, maybe I should have read this before. _It held Jacob Black's email and contact number, but because I didn't have a cell phone, or a laptop, I had to search the giant house for either. I came across a phone connected to the tiled walls of the kitchen. I entered his number, and listened to the dial tone before a deep voice answered.

_"NYC Boot Camp. Jake speaking."_

The phone shook in my hands with nerves. I was never good at talking on the phone to strangers. "Um... hi, this is Lily -, um, Lillian Mallory."

There was a slight pause. _"Ooh! Yes, hello Lillian. How are you?"_

"Fine. Thank you. I, er, saw I had to phone you when I had arrived."

_"You sure did, Little Miss. You're not staying on campus, are you?"_

"No. No, I'm at my Dad's house - in Rye."

_"Rye? Well that's, what, forty-five minutes away. It would be great to get things started, so could dad bring you here sometime today?"_

"Er, I don't know... I'd need to ask someone. It might have to be tomorrow."

_"Okay, well I'm here until seven PM tonight, or I'll get here at nine tomorrow morning. Just turn up whenever you can."_

"Okay, I'll let you know. Thank you, Jacob."

_"You're welcome, Little Miss. See you in a bit."_

I had some thinking to do. Obviously I needed to find a way to Manhattan (preferably today) but I'd need to make my way back easily too. Does Dad have another driver who could take me? I don't know anything about his staff apart from Bella and Siobhan. And I know he has one driver who takes him to and from work, but I bet he'd need to be on duty in case Dad suddenly had to go somewhere. Does Siobhan drive? I don't know. I know Bella does but she's working... however, she said I could phone her whenever I had to. I could always call Bella and ask her what I can do about traveling places.

I still had her business card upstairs in my wallet. I collected that, then came back to the kitchen phone. I chose to phone her business number, 'cause she'd be more likely to answer that one, right? I dialed it anyway.

_"Good afternoon; Brandon and Cullen agencies New York, Isabella speaking. How may I help?"_

"Bella? It's me - Lily."

_"Hey Rocket! How you doing, Kid?" _

"I'm fine. Um, are you busy?"

Her answer was hesitant - she was busy. "_Er... I'm not running off my feet. It's cool, Kid, what's up?"_

"Um, you see I need to meet my boxing coach, but he's in Manhattan and I don't know how to get there."

_"Manhattan? Oh then you're in luck, Kid, 'cause that is exactly where Daddy Dearest and I work. Do you need to see this guy today?"_

"No, I can wait until tomorrow."

_"Okay, sweet. I'll tell Bossman now that you'll join him tomorrow and we'll get you safely to the coach somehow."_

A giant smile lit up my face. I knew Bella could help me. "Thank you so much, Bella."

_"Anytime, Lil. Was there anything else you needed?"_

"Um, yeah... See how you mentioned there was a gym here somewhere? Well, where is it again? I need to loosen up and train for tomorrow."

Bella laughed down the phone, like I had just asked the most insane question. _"I think I can do one better than a gym, Lil."_

"Really?"

_"Ooh hell yes. Bossman might kill me, but I don't really give a shit."_

I would feel awful if I was the reason she got yelled at. I couldn't let that happen. "Don't get into trouble because of me, Bella. I'm fine with a gym - really."

Bella laughed again. _"Don't fret; I've done crazier things than this. Now, you know the house at the back of the yard?"_

"Siobhan's house?"

_"Yes. The top floor is where Momma Bear stays. If you go in through the front door and turn left, you'll see two large couches and another wooden door. Go through that wooden door and follow the stairs - you'll soon see what I'm talking about. And remember the code 1-9-2-1-0-7"_

I repeated Bella's directions and wrote down the code, thanked her again and ended the call. I changed into my work out gear - loose running shorts and a black lycra crop top with a pair of sneakers and my hair tied back into a pony tail. I picked up Eric's old iPod as well and found a bottle of water in the refrigerator. Then followed what I was told and it wasn't long before I came to the second wooden door. The bottom floor of that other house was not what I had expected. I thought it would be like the main house - very modern decor, but simple and elegant. But no, this house had mix-matched furniture, and the bottom floor was entirely open-planned with giant televisions and game stations.

I didn't really give it a second glance - that sort of thing bores me - and continued with my quest. On opening the door, an over-head light automatically switches on to guide you down the stairs. I followed them just like Bella had said and reached a third (and hopefully final) door. This one was not made of wood, but steel. It had a lock bolted to the side, which is where the code came in handy.

I did feel fairly guilty for not asking Dad's permission and entering his private space without asking, but I hoped if he really hated the idea, Bella wouldn't have offered it to me.

What I saw opening that door was something I had never imagined seeing. Cement floors and walls, with bright lights all across the ceiling. But it was what I stared at straight ahead of me that made me catch my breath.

It was a boxing ring.

Like, a proper Pro Boxers ring. With stairs on two sides to help you onto the platform. A punch bag hung from metal beams behind the ring. There's a speed ball and a basket containing various hook and jab pads and mitts. I noticed a cabinet to the right. My feet were moving towards it before I knew what was happening. I was in awe at it all. Inside the cabinet was every trophy, medal and belt Dad ever won. Including his state champion belt.

I had always wanted to see one like that, and here it was - right in front of me. It was made of solid black leather, with intricate gold detailing all over. On the gold plaque in the middle I could make out the words '**NEW YORK STATE CHAMPION'. **To know that it was _my Dad _that won that made me so proud. I wanted to have that title one day.

The cabinet held one pair of boots and one pair of gloves. I wondered whether they were the ones he wore when he won champion, that's why they are safe guarded? I could have looked at that stuff all day, but I was too interested in testing out the equipment. My weakness had always been the speed ball and getting my concentration perfect, so I tried that one first. I stood in line with the ball and slowly got the elastic swinging. As I punched, the ball swung faster, but I only missed it a few times, so I felt good. My foot work quickened as I side stepped from left to right.

I worked out until I couldn't work out anymore. My legs felt like jelly and sweat poured down my face. My arms were cramping but none of that mattered to me. The adrenaline that flowed through my blood was something I had never experienced. It was magical.

Once I had relaxed and felt more energised, I swapped over to the punch bag to practice my hooks and upper cuts. I preferred the punch bag to the speed ball and had always been told this was my strongest piece of apparatus. For almost half an hour I practiced many moves, including the double right hand, double left hand, and the left-right-uppercut all whilst bouncing on my toes and dodging the bag.

A movement caught my eye when I landed a sharp jab to the front of the bag. I stopped what I was doing. The rhythmic squeak of the chains was the only back ground noise. Dad was leant against the steel door - he was too far away for me to see his expression.

"Isabella told me I would find you here." He said and slowly walked towards me.

A shake vibrated through my body, but it was not because of my recent work out. "Are you mad?" I asked.

Dad pursed his lips and looked around the arena. "...No." He finally replied. "It needs to be used more often." He came back to look at me, then the punch bag which still swung. "How long have you been boxing?"

"Um, I started when I was 8, but didn't get lessons until I was 9."

The expression on his face drove me insane. It looked as though he was trying to work something out, but what? What was he working out?

"How much do you train?" It was almost if we were in an interview. All the serious-toned questions.

"Train properly? A couple hours a week - that's all I can afford. But I read about it and practice with a mirror." _God, he probably thinks I'm so pathetic. Not being able to afford boxing lessons._

"What I find interesting," Dad mused and walked around me and the bag. "Is the footwork."

I peered at my sneakers. I've never had the privilege of owning my own pair of boots, so my footwork couldn't be as sleek as other peoples'. "My footwork is a mess." I admitted.

"Who said it's a mess?"

"The man who runs my class at home."

Dad smirked and shook his head, "then he doesn't know shit. _I'm _telling you that your footwork is good." That compliment felt like getting a gold star from your teacher. "They're not perfect," Dad continued, "and needs some work. But they are professional moves."

"Really? But I'm not even a senior."

He shrugged his shoulders. "And? You're a good boxer, Lillian, and with the right training, you could be even better."

For the first time in a very, very long time I felt... special. I felt like I was achieving something. Mom never praised me like that, and the coaches at home said I was good enough to come to New York, but they hadn't mentioned professional moves before. Nobody had. Until now. And it came from the most unlikely person.

0-0

**Any new thoughts and feelings about Bossman? Let me know!**

**X**


	5. Rosalie

Once again, you guy have blown my mind with your kind words. I cannot thank you enough. To everyone who rec'd it; thank you. That meant so much to me.

Lots of thanks to Tiffany, for giving this a final polish.

**CHAPTER FIVE.**

**BELLA  
**The sun was shining, the birds were singing and Angus was snoring like a beast. But that was not what put a smile on my face. What did was the idea that for the next two days I could watch re-runs of The Walking Dead (_hey Daryl, how you doin'?) _chill out in my comfies and say a massive 'screw that!' to anything that Bossman wanted done. It's friday! _Rejoice, rejoice rejoice. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. And all that crap! _

There was only one thing that could top my excitement. Okay well five things if you're being technical.

_Scary, Sporty, Posh, Baby and Ginger._

My tabby gave me a concerned look when I broke into his private space and began to sing loudly in his face. _"_Colors of the world, spice up your life! Every boy and every girl, spice up your life!" Angus blinked his jade eyes as if to say '_is that meant to impress me?' _

_Oh, I'm sorry Simon Cowell. _

Seeing as it was a Friday and I was in a relaxed mood, my clothing inherited that mood also; a mint green blouse, black slacks and black patent flats. The gold buckle of the shoes I matched with a gold chained necklace and bracelet. And who said I had no fashion sense? _Pfft, I know how to match things. _

I fed Angus, made sure the fat bastard had everything he needed and left the house. It was nearing half-seven, so the roads were busy, but at least I would get through Manhattan before hell appeared between eight-thirty and nine.

I skipped the bagel that morning - that was too healthy for my needs - and went to Dunkin' Donuts for a cappuccino and a selection of their fine bakery. I totally pulled that '_staff meeting requirements' _line at the cashier (aced the exaggerated sigh) when in reality they were all for me. I considered offering one to Bossman, but that was pushing my kindness.

No man shall ever come before my stomach and the need for chocolate. Sorry.

Bossman turned up later to work than me that morning, and when he finally arrived I was taking a call. I offered him a brief smile but he ignored me and headed straight for his office. _I see someones not a happy bunny. _

_Perhaps I have to do more sucking up to improve his mood? I could go straight in with a fondle of the balls. It's a sure-fire winner, that one. Or I could do what any sane and normal person would and leave him to vent. But where's the fun in that? _

Fortunately I had reason to go into his office - I was met with acceptance forms and letters he had to sign when I arrived. I must admit, I was slightly nerved going in. You're never too sure which side of Bossman is going to greet you. In which case, I chose the safe option of my usual happy-go-lucky approach.

"Good morning, Million Dollar Baby!" I sang, stopping just short of adding in the jazz hands. (A bit over the top if you ask me).

A slither of a smile was spotted. _Score! _"Last I checked, Bella, I was not some butch woman from the south."

"Oh but you pass her off so well!"

"And anyway, what happened to Rocky?"

I passed him his papers then stole the spare seat in front of his desk. I raised my legs and rested my feet on the over-varnished wood of said furniture. "I'm pretty certain Rocky is a man, Edward, and seeing how you go through a box of Tampax quicker than I do, I think it's safe to say Hilary Swank is more at your level."

Edward dropped the expensive biro he held in his hand and leant towards me. A smoldering look on his face.

_Was that meant to be hot? 'Cause... it fucking was. Christ._

_Who turned up the thermostat?_

"You think you're funny?"

I placed one hand on my chest. "Oh I know I'm not funny - I'm fucking hilarious, mate."

Edward chuckled happily, "Ooh, Bella; what am I going to do with you?"

_You can do many things to me, Bossman. _

_Make me your bitch._

0-0

Later on in the morning, I was snowed under with work. The phones would not stop ringing and Edward had three new possible clients all wanting to talk to him at once. There was only so many times I can ask them to 'please hold while I transfer you.' Each client had sent their forms in advance which just added more work to my over flowing pile. Little Lily had phoned me for help - bless her cotton socks. And to top it all off, I received a message from Angela.

**The witch is on her broom. I repeat: the witch is on her broom.**

I replied with an extremely sophisticated: **Fuck her, **seconds before the elevator doors opened and out walked the pristine Rosalie Cullen. The way she held herself made it seem like a hot iron rod had been previously shoved up her back entrance. All snooty and up-herself like she owns the fucking place. Well she partly does, but that is besides the point right now.

"Good morning, Mrs Cullen."

I believe there is something in the genes of this family where everyone is unable to speak and communicates by nodding only. Princess headed straight for Bossman's door, but I stopped her before she got there.

"I'm afraid Mr. Cullen is speaking to a client right now. Can I have him call you when he's available?"

Princess turned her witch like eyes on me. "I believe I don't need an _appointment _to see my brother, Ms Swan."

_And I believe I don't need permission before I shove my foot in your fucking face, bitch. _

Before I could stop her, Rosalie had barged into his office and slammed the door behind her. Not even ten minutes had passed when Edward buzzed me into his office.

"Rose," he started once I had arrived. "Tell Isabella what you just told me."

Princess huffed and inspected her perfectly manicured nails. "Ms. Swan is not a part of this, baby brother."

_Way to talk like I'm not in the room._

"Rosalie," Bossman had reared his ugly head. His voice stern. "If you want me to attend this damn thing you will inform Isabella on every piece of information she will need. Got it? I have enough on my plate as it is."

An awkward silence filled the room. I wasn't too sure whether to speak, or quietly creep back to my desk and allow them to finish their sibling argument.

Unfortunately for Edward, Princess had a backbone and never lets him have the last word. "We all have a lot on our plates, Edward. Grow up."

I had to agree. _Sorry but she's got a point._

Princess listened to what Edward had said, though, and passed me the sheet of paper that was clutched in her hand. I noticed the words '_Brandon and Cullen...' _printed on the top.

"This is the annual dinner - I'm sure you've heard of it." I didn't have the energy to think of some snarky reply. "It's happening next Thursday and it is crucial that Edward and I both attend. Everybody will be there. I know my brother is reluctant to attend, so it is your job to get him there and looking presentable. Is that okay, Ms. Swan?"

I wanted to rip that fake smile off her fake face. God, she infuriates me. "Absolutely, Mrs. Cullen."

Edward was stuck back into his work, so Princess and I went to leave.

"Hold up, Isabella." Edward spoke, "get me a black coffee and come back in. We need to discuss something."

_Oh crap. A black coffee? That doesn't sound good._

With his coffee in hand, I made my way back to his office. He offered me a seat and proceeded to rub his hands roughly over his eyes. _Was this about Princess? Surely not._

"Bossma-."

"I need you to get Eric Yorkie on the phone right now."

_Eric? So... shit, this is about Lily? _

"Er, problem - Eric and his new blushing bride are somewhere in the south of France right now." _Probably loving it up on the sand with his wrinkly balls._

Edward shot me a deathly look. "I don't give a shit. I need to speak to him."

"Okay... what is this about?"

A large gush of air blew from his lips. "Something that Lillian said at breakfast has got me thinking."

_They had breakfast together? He _acknowledged _her? Holy crap, this is big news!_

"What did she say?"

He gave me a recap of their conversation based around tomato ketchup. "She said Lauren bought her ketchup because it is cheap and _shuts her up." _ This had really gotten to him. Which surprised me a lot.

"So maybe she's poor?" I offered.

"Yes, but why is she poor? I pay more than enough money a month - the cost of something should not be an issue."

"Edward it's like what you're taught in Mean Girls - you can't ask someone why they're white; you can't ask someone why they're poor."

_Yep, yep I referenced that. Fist pump. _

"What?"

"Bossman don't tell me you've never see Mean Girls."

"I don't have time to watch chick flicks, Bella."

_Everybody, drop what you're doing._

_Bossman hasn't seen Mean Girls._

_He has not lived._

_I've gotta change this._

"Mark my words - one day I will sit you down and you shall watch that cheesy goodness. Anyway, you've distracted me."

"I tend to do that quite a lot."

_Smug bastard._

_"_As I was saying," Edward continued, "that money is not for Lauren - the courts decided that fourteen years ago. I need to know what is going on and Eric is going to give me answers."  
"Why don't you talk to Lily first? Have her tell you what is going on, and then disturb Mr. Yorkie if you think it's necessary."

"And what will she know about it?"

I threw my hands into the air. "Edward, she's not some brainless idiot; Lily knows what is going on." I looked about the desk at the paperwork that he'd scattered. "All this stuff we can do at home. I think you should leave early and go home and talk to Lily. You'd just sit and mope all day if you didn't." Edward took quite a bit of persuading for him to listen to me, but agreed in the end.

"I'll finish off here and meet you at Bossman Manor." Edward nodded in agreement. "And if you can't find her in the house, I think I'll know just where she is."

0-0

I arrived later than Edward and let myself in through the front door only to be welcomed by my Momma Bear who had two plates of sandwiches and two bottles of water on a wooden tray. There was a comforting smell of freshly baked bread wafting throughout the house. _Mmm, my nostrils are having a party._

"I was just on my way to the gym to deliver their lunch," Siobhan mentioned, holding out the tray. "But perhaps you could take it for me?"

I accepted the lunch with a smile, "y'know, Momma, I've only had a half dozen pastries this morning..."

Siobhan let out a warm laugh, "Oh, you must be starving!" She joked.

"I am! I'm practically skin and bones over here." I turned in direction of the back door and called behind me, "turkey salad on white, please! Thanks, love you!"

I wasn't sure what to expect when I headed to the gym. After mentioning it to Lily and letting her in on Edward's secret lair I had second thoughts on whether he would appreciate her knowing about it. But I mean it's only a gym, it's not like Christian Grey's fucking red room of pain. However, Bossman being Bossman, he could have blown a fuse.

The door was open ajar and the only sound heard was that of rubber soles squeaking on the linoleum floor. With a confused frown, I pushed open the door with my elbow to reveal Lily bouncing from foot-to-foot and punching the air. Edward then appeared from a cupboard with a small stack of cones in hand.

"I want you to try something," he said whilst placing three of the cones in the shape of a large triangle. Lily came to a halt to watch her father. "Have you been taught the three cone drill?"

"I don't think so..." She replied nervously.

My eyes widened and the room suddenly felt very hot when Edward slipped from his suit jacket and started to stretch his arms. Even from where I stood, I could see the thin material of his shirt stretch over his broad shoulders.

_Ooh ya fucker. Hello._

"It doesn't surprise me if you haven't, but I'd be interested to see how well you do with this." Edward moved so he stood in line with two of the cones. "The idea is you throw a combo when your lead foot hits a cone. Imagine they are your opponents."

A strange wave of emotion hit watching these two work together. It seemed as though Lily had managed to break her father's tough exterior.

"Put your lead foot forward," he copied his words using his right foot, "then match that with your second so they are a shoulder width apart." It looked as if Lily took in every word he said. "Now you want to pivot around this triangle anyway you wish; making sure you put your first foot first."

Suddenly Bossman was a pivoting fool. He kept his shoulders hunched and arms up in guard as he sleekly moved around the area. There was a flash of punches before he returned to pivoting, and I could not take my eyes off him. It was mesmerizing.

"Now you give it a go." His voice was the softest I had ever heard it when speaking to Lily. She took his place and slowly found her rhythm. There was a clear difference between his footwork and hers, but she seemed to pick it up quickly. What touched me the most, as I stood there creeping in the corner, was the expression I spotted on Edward's face. A smile which symbolized so much pride for the young girl before him. I don't think he knew he was making said face, and I also don't think he knew I had been standing watching the whole time.

I decided then to make my appearance and finally put down the tray that had started to cramp my hand.

"How's it going?" I announced loudly. Lily stopped her pivoting and greeted me with a smile I had quickly learnt to love.

"So well - Dad says I have professional moves." How she can call him 'dad' after the way he treated her, I'll never know; '_That Asshole' _is more the name I would pick for him. And often do.

"That's excellent," I praised, "you could show that to your coach tomorrow."

"Yes, this coach..." Edward mused, "what's he like?"

"Oh, um, I don't know; I've never met him before."

"Right... What's his name? He professional?"

"Jacob Black. I don't know his ranking."

Edward thought over the name, "Black... Black..." Then he shrugged, "never heard of him. He's probably shit."

"Edward! I doubt he'd be shit if he's coaching for that club."

The stubborn asshole took a bite of his sandwich; ignoring everything I had just said. Looked like Bossman was back.

0-0

A few hours later I was slaving on my laptop in the living room and watching old episodes of Scrubs at the same time. I loved that show; it was because of Elliot that I imagined myself becoming a doctor, then it was because of my fear of blood that I scraped that idea.

_Heh, heh. No thanks, Doc._

"Hi, Bella." Lily suddenly appeared, scaring the ever-loving crap outta me.

"Hey, Kid. Good training session?"

She glanced at me with confusion. "That ended hours ago. I thought Dad came to talk to you?"

"No... When was that?" I pressed 'mute' on the TV so I could pay more attention to what she said.

"After lunch; Dad and I were talking, then he left saying he had to talk to you. I left with him and have been in my room since."

A bad feeling sunk in. I didn't like the sound of that.

"Hey, Kid, have you watched Scrubs before?" I pointed to the television with the remote.

She shook her head. "No; I don't watch a lot of TV shows."

"Well let me introduce you to JD and Turk. I'll be back in a minute." My plan was to distract her enough to allow me the chance to speak to Edward and find out what had happened.

I headed for this office, knocked twice, but got no reply. To make sure, I even poked my head around the door but he wasn't there. Next I tried his bedroom, but on the way I passed Siobhan who was coming down the stairs.

"Have you seen Bossman?" I asked her. Siobhan never said a word; only smirked and pointed out the far window that looked over the back yard. "Oh, fuck..."

"Yes, oh... _that word." _Adorable Momma Bear never cusses, y'see.

Without wasting a second I was out the back door and running towards the bottom houses.

_Okay, when I say 'running' I more mean 'walking quickly'. 'Cause there's no chance in hell I'm running. Not for no man._

I heard the pounding of leather before I reached the downward stairs. For all I knew, he had hid himself away for hours. My theories were correct, Edward was letting out his energy in the ring. I don't know what he and Lily spoke about, but it must have been deep because it all became too much; Bossman had cracked.

He wore long red gym shorts and a baggy grey sweater. He had attached a punch bag at each corner, and for a short period I witnessed him beating the crap out of those leather bags - I spotted a black tape tied around his hands and wrists.

"Edward...?" I walked towards the ring gingerly. His moves faltered, so he had heard me, but he never made any sort of reply. "Edward, are you okay?"

"Fan-fucking-tastic." He grunted.

_I call bullshit on that one._

"You don't sound fantastic to me."

He came to a stop and gripped the ropes tight with each hand. His chest heaved in and out; sweat dripped down his face. His red face hooded from the sweater, like a creature in the night.

"What happened?" I tried again, but for a few minutes he never said a word; only the deep breathing from his latest workout broke our silence. Until he did speak - his voice ridged with anger.

"That gold-digging whore better drop to her knees and fucking beg." The way he said that made it sound like he was speaking out loud to himself, and not to me. "Beg for all she's fucking worth. She can't make a fool out of me."

"I ask again, Bossman - _what happened?"_

His head snapped round to face me. For the first time, I admit I was scared of him. "You want to know what happened, Bella? You want to know what has _been happening _for the last fourteen fucking years?" I stayed quiet. "Eighteen thousand dollars a year - that's two hundred and fifty thousand dollars in fourteen years. As agreed by a court of law, that money was for Lillian's upbringing, correct?"

I nodded. _I wasn't at the court hearing, but I'm assuming he's speaking the truth._

"But has it been? _Ooh no." _Bossman had officially lost it. He scared me by his crazed voice alone. "According to Lillian, Lauren never had the money to buy her new clothes - she lived on hand-me-downs. She couldn't afford boxing lessons and had to work two jobs to pay the bills. But how is that possible, Bella? Huh? I sent more money than Lauren made every month."

"Maybe Lauren had major debt? Her paycheck would go towards that and they'd only have your money to live on."

_Why am I taking her side...? _

"A debt that takes fourteen years to clear? I don't think so."

_Some people aren't as privileged as you, Bossman. We don't get things handed to us on a silver fucking platter._

"You can't assume she stole your money, Edward."

"Oh I can, and I will. It makes me wonder what else she has been lying about."

"What do you mean?"

"Who knows what bullshit she has said about me - everything that Lillian believes could be a complete lie."

"You don't know that, and you don't know what happened to the money either."

"Well I'm going to find out."

Bossman left me to continue on with his ring rage. He let out a heavy grunt every time his fist connected with the leather. "She won't get away with this."

0-0

***Hides behind pillow* your thoughts on Bossman changing? Or nah?**

**Just a heads up, I'm away in England this weekend visiting family, so if I can't update on monday as usual, it won't be far away :)**

**For chapter teasers and pictures for this story, join my Facebook group: RosieRathbone FanFiction! **

**Thoughts?**

**X**


	6. Jacob

I love you, d'ya know that? Again, my thanks go to Tiffany for all your incredible help. Thank you.

**CHAPTER SIX.**

**BELLA**

On friday evening, Edward and I decided that one of us should accompany Lily to her first meeting with this Jacob-coach-man. And as much as Edward wanted to go, we all knew he had far too much work to do in the office. So I stepped up to the occasion. That meant being at Bossman Manor at seven AM saturday morning. Which went against my weekend rules - 7am does not exist on my day off. You understand, right? Thank you. And if you thought I said 'no' to the cold bottle of wine that waited patiently, you are seriously deluded.

That's like having a hot guy in your bed and refusing to sleep with him; it just does not happen.

So, my alarm rudely awoke me at 6am and I instantly wanted to beat the shit out of that damn machine. I skillfully (not so skillfully) rolled out of bed - narrowly missing Angus in the process - and headed for the bathroom. With little energy I performed the three S's ritual - shit, shower and shave - before finding the first clothes my hands could reach; black leggings, and an over-sized_ Hogwarts_ t-shirt. I was tempted to go sans bra, but with Bossman in close vicinity, that wouldn't have been my smartest move of the day.

_I already look like shit, I don't need a case of the stiff nips to go along with that._

I shoved a pair of TOMS onto my feet and set off.

"Christ, Bella, what happened to you?" Edward greeted me with a soft laugh when I arrived.

_Yeah, laugh all you want you annoying bastard. _

"Seven o'clock happened." Of course Edward was in his perfect work suit and ready to start the day. _Because he's perfect and never does anything wrong... _

_Heavy. Fucking. Sarcasm._

"Did you even brush your hair?"

Brush my hair? Who has time for that? "No. Why, do you want to do it? Shall I get down on my knees, Ed?"

"You can get down on your knees, but it won't be for any hair brushing."

"Oh, you want me to tie your shoe lace? Right, right; I get it."

The two of us cracked into laughter like two immature children. "Okay, being serious now." He started, but I interrupted him.

"I thought we already were being serious, Bossman?"

He shook his head in amusement. "I need you to do something for me when you go with Lillian."

"Hold her hand?"

"Bella, fucks sake, will you pay attention?"

I sniggered quietly - _God, I crack myself up. _"Sorry, Bossman, what were you saying?"

"Lillian doesn't have a cell phone - she'll need one for the duration of her stay. Here's my card; buy her whichever one she wants."

_He's letting me loose in Manhattan with his credit card? Not the smartest move. _But he trusted me, and I couldn't break that. "No problem, Boss."

"Thank you, and you'll need to find an outfit for yourself."

I peered down at my lazy clothing. "Excuse me? What is wrong with what I'm wearing now? I don't need to be presentable for once."

"I mean for the dinner next week. You'll be there too."

_Um... what? When did I decide that?_

"I'm not going to that dinner." A night with Princess Cullen? I'd rather someone farted in my mouth ten times over.

"You don't have an option, I'm afraid."

"Edward, how well do you know me?" I asked seriously.

He mused over my question, "pretty well, I guess."

"Right, then you'd know I'm not some _la-de-da-and-uppity _gal. I'd stand out like a sore thumb."

"With the right dress, Bella, and decent manners, you'd blend in with the crowd. C'mon."

Unfortunately, I didn't have a choice in the matter. "Fine, but so you know, it'll be like that scene in Miss Congeniality where Michael Caine has to work his magic on Sandra Bullock. I eat with my mouth open too."

_God knows how I'm still single - I'm so attractive._

0-0

"You nervous, Kid?" I asked in the car as I drove Lily and I to the boxing club. I had a large double-shot coffee in the holders between us. Since I had my liquid gold, I could happily communicate with other people.

"No, why?"

"This Jacob guy could be intimidating as hell. I know I would be nervous."

Her soft laugh filled the car, "you work for my Dad and you'd be intimidated by a boxing coach?"

_Shit, the girl had a point. _"Alright, smart ass, I was only saying."

It turned out to be really easy to get to the club - only ten blocks from my office and well sign posted. It had a parking lot around the back of the building which, according to the notices, was only for the members of NYC Bootcamp. Arriving on the first floor, Lily and I were greeted by a small man with grey hair, dressed in sweat pants and a white polo. He looked like no pro-boxer to me.

"Name, please?" He required. A black, personalized clipboard held tight in his hands.

"Um, Lillian Mallory. I'm here to meet Jacob Black."

"Miss Mallory! A pleasure to meet you. Come right this way." We followed him with a frown - unsure of where we were going. After walking down a long bright corridor and through a set of doors, we came to 'Gym 2' - that is what it said on the door anyway. Gym 2 was much like Edward's basement gym at home, except larger and held more equipment. So... it wasn't much like his - the only similarity was they are both gyms. _Shut up, Bella. _

_Shutting up._

"Jacob, here's your last one." Our elderly-man-guide-person walked us further into the room. His words had interrupted a man that stood in the nearest ring. He wore similar clothing to our guide but he was clearly a lot younger. I quickly came to realize this other man was Jacob. He had tanned skin, spiky, jet black hair and the neatest set of pearly whites I had ever seen. Seriously, he was happily greeting Lily and all I could pay attention to where those teeth! Christ on a stick, they had to be veneers.

Not only did he have the sexiest teeth, he also had the sexiest face. Warm eyes, perfect features... I was a gooey mess on the floor. Jacob's smile had a childish tone to it, it was very comforting.

"And you must be Lillian's... sister?" _Oh, don't flatter me, Jake._

_Lillian's sister? Ha! Bossman is not my daddy in that way._

"I'm her father's slave." I said. Jacob looked confused. "Not like a sex slave or anything, I mean business slave." _Shut up you mumbling fool! Fucks sake, Bella, I can't take you anywhere! _

"Riiiiight." I was always told I make an excellent first impression. Jacob peered at the clipboard Elder Man had passed him. "I noticed you never added your address on your form Lillian, or a parent/guardian's information. Would you mind adding that in now?"

"Which address?" She questioned with a laugh. "I'm staying with my Dad, but I actually live in Seattle." I could tell Lily was comfortable with Jacob already from how confidently she spoke with him.

"Your Dad's will be fine, and his contact information, please."

The board was passed to Lily and then to me - the only one in the room to know Edward's address and contact info. For security and privacy reasons, I wrote down my address instead, and the number that transferred to my office desk. If it wasn't answered at work, it automatically went to my cell. I knew Edward would not be happy if I handed out his personal information.

I got a major kick from watching Jacob's eyes bulge when he took in Edward's name. It had to be intimidating knowing you're teaching the kid of a former professional.

"Cullen's daughter?" He sounded an impressed whistle. "You've got a lot of pressure on your shoulders, Little Miss." He looked back at the paper, "I thought you said you're staying in Rye?"

"She is," I interrupted, "but I cannot give out the address until Mr. Cullen approves of it."

Jacob rose his hands like he was surrendering to something. "I understand that. Right! Wanna show me what you're made of, Little Miss?" He clapped and rubbed his hands excitedly. Lily was only too eager to drop her bag by my feet and follow Jacob around the gym.

For the first half an hour, I watched them. Jacob was full of praise, pats on the back and smiles that showed those gorgeous teeth. It was too early to tell whether he was always like that, or if it was just Lily.

Edward rang me forty minutes into the lesson. "_How's it going?" _He asked. I sensed a hint of nerves in his words.

"So far, so good. They needed a parents' contact info and Lily's address, so I wrote down mine instead."

I imagined him nodding. _"Thank you."_

"You're welcome, Bossman."

_"And this Jacob guy, what's he like?" _

"He's good - from what I've seen he knows what he's doing. But constantly kissing Kid's ass since he found out about you."

_"You tell the fucker to stay far away from Lillian's ass. And yours. Got it?" _

"Woah, calm down, Bossman. He's harmless."

_"How do you know he's harmless?! You've barely met the guy."  
_"Do you think I'd allow Lily to stay if he smelt fishy?"

_"Okay. But any dirty work and she gets the hell out of there." _A warm bubbly filling filled my inside at his concern for her.

_Either that, or I had the need to belch. It was hard to tell sometimes. _

_"One last thing, Bella. You need to wear a dress to next weeks dinner; no trousers suits, and nothing too sexy and provocative, please."_

I slapped my thigh for deep effect. "Darn, I'll put away my dominatrix suit then."

There was a small hesitation with his reply. _That's right, Bossman; imagine the leather. _"I thought we agreed you'd only wear that behind closed doors?"

"That's just in your dreams, Boss."

_This has taken a funny turn. _

_"Remind me again why I hired you?"_

"'Cause I'm the only idiot willing to deal with your constant shit." That, plus my intensions were first and foremost business. I couldn't say that about a majority of those I had been up against. "Now, can you stop harassing me, please? I have serious money to spend."

_"Isabella..." _He warned.

"Oh, my God, Edward - you know you can trust me." But it wasn't like he's short on the money anyway.

_"Yes, well. Just have fun with Lillian and I'll see you both later."_

"Catch ya, Boss!"

Jacob and Lily's lesson had finished when I got off the phone. They were making there way over to me with mitts in their hands and under each arm.

"How'd you do, Kid?"

"She did really well." Jacob answered, "That showed me what to work on when we start properly next week." Lily had the proudest smile on her face.

"And what should she work on?" I asked.

"Mainly the foot work; it's a little shabby and at this stage we can't stick with first grade moves."

My bullshit senses were tingling. "That's funny, Jake, because just yesterday Lily's Dad (y'know, _Edward Cullen) _was saying how professional her moves were. Not first grade."

Jacob flipped his hands, "everyone sees a routine in a different light."

_Diggin' yourself a hole there, boy._

His words held more shit than his asshole. "Riiight...Well it was great meeting you, Jake. Hopefully I'll see you again if I have to drop Lily off one morning."

His 100 watt smile continued to beam. "Like wise." He patted Kid's shoulders, "remember those exercises and I'll see you next week."

"Yes; thank you, Jake."

"Pleasure, Little Miss."

I didn't want to damper Lily's mood - she was clearly so excited and proud with what she had achieved, that I couldn't then open my mouth and bad-word her coach. She may think the sun shone out his ass, but I knew it was nothing but toxic gas.

0-0

_"H&amp;M? _Really, Bella?" Lily and I had stopped outside the clothing store, in search for my retched dress. "I thought it was a formal dinner you're going to."

"I'll have you know, Kid, my smartest leggings came from this shop - the ones I keep for formal occasions." By 'smartest' I meant 'the ones with less holes'. I'm a stingy bitch.

Her laugh was loud and cheerful. "I would _love _to see Dad's reaction if you wore leggings!"

"Fine! And what do you think I should wear, Gok Wan?"

"Who?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

I felt a part of me shatter inside. "Um, like, the greatest stylist... ever. Lil', you've gotta love a bit of Gok." _I know I love a bit of Gok... naughty. _

"Okay... Dad said you had to wear a dress, right? Let's hit the real shops! We're in New York!" I could understand her excitement, especially as this sort of thing didn't happen often back home.

"I don't know if you've realized, Lily, but I'm not a girly-girl. I don't wear dresses - not _dresses dresses _anyway. Why spend a lot of money on something I'll only wear once?"

"If this is your only time being overly formal, why not make the most of it?"

_Damn her! She always thinks one better than me._

I continued to look at her, silently deciding what to do. "Please, Bella? It'll be fun." Then she pulled the puppy eyes. Fucking puppy eyes, and I was done.

"Right! Get in the car."

She squealed and threw her arms around my waist. "_Yee! _Thank you!"

And that was how I came to drive around New York all day, because that cute girl beside me wanted to. We went everywhere and tried on everything. I headed for the pant suits every time, but Lily pulled me back to the dresses. I had to admit, I loved watching her eyes light up every time we entered a store.

_"This blouse costs $1,000?!" _She'd announce in shock, _"Mine is from the bargain bucket in Target and cost ten! I'd love to be this rich..." _She reminded me of a little girl with a fairytale dream, who grows up wishing to become a princess and live in her pink castle with white horses. It was so cute.

But I managed to find a dress, which made me wince, but Lily squealed (again) and confessed that she "_absolutely love it! You look so hot, Bella! My Dad won't know what hit him!" _

I guess I had to wait and see on that last part.

0-0

"Oh, my God... watch this." I stole a look at Lily before paying attention back on the road. She had her shiny new iPhone 5s in hand. "_Siri, what is the temperature meant to be tomorrow?" _A computerized voice replied with an estimated temperature. "How awesome is that?!"

She'd soon come to see that Siri had no real purpose and she'd never use the app, but I shared her same excitement when I first had one. I barely had to ask Lily which phone she wanted - she instantly mentioned an iPhone and how she had always wanted one. Who was I to say no? Especially when Daddy Dearest was paying for it. We got her the gold edition (to match mine) then a lilac case to protect it.

"It's so pretty... I can FaceTime all my friends now! And when I go home I won't have to worry about not talking to you or Dad because I can use iMessage! I'll need music too, could I use your laptop to copy some of the songs?"

I couldn't help but laugh - she was so precious when excited. "Of course your can. And I'm sure dad would get you an iTunes account, that way you can buy music straight through the phone."

Lily let out a relaxed breath, "this has been one of the best days."

"Because you go an iPhone?" I laughed.

"No! I just... I don't know. I just feel a lot happier for some reason."

That was what I got for waking up at 6am, driving for hours and suffering in clothes shops for double that. Kid was the happiest she had been for a long time - nothing could top that.

Bossman found us in the living room later that evening. We were watching re-runs of Scrubs again. It was our new thing.

"How was your day?" He was wearing the same suit as earlier, but his tie had loosened and a few buttons were undone leading down his chest. _Avert your eyes.. avert your eyes... _

"It was amazing, Dad! Bella got me an iPhone," she held out the thin object, "and boxing was so good."

Edward smiled. And I mean, like, _smiled! _Y'know, the joyful emotion? I didn't know that was possible. "I'm glad to hear that. Your coach, what is he like?"

I stayed quiet. Lily was too eager to speak. "He's good! And he _seriously _has the hots for Bella."

_You cheeky little... _

"Is that so?" You could hear the change in his voice. From lighthearted and soft, to stern and unimpressed.

"Yes! Oh, my goodness, Bella - you should wear that new dress in front of him. He won't know what to do with himself, and that cleavage? He'll die!"

Edward cleared this throat with a tight cough. I didn't dare look in his direction. "Yes... well, that's um... " Without another word, Edward turned on his heel and left the room. He left me and a giggling Lily behind.

"Was that necessary? I need to work with him!"

"Yes, and I need to live with him!" She continued to giggle. "C'mon, Bella, I've barely been here five minutes and I'm already more aware than you. I've just done you a huge favor."

0-0

**Ooh, clever clever Lily. **

**So... we've met Jacob, what do you think about him?**

**Leave me your thoughts!**

**X**


	7. Alice

**CHAPTER SEVEN.**

**BELLA.**

"Squeeze... fuck... shit..._OW!" _

"Stop complaining and put the damn dress on."

I spun round to my best friend in a flurry, "don't you think that is what I am trying to do?!" Turning back to the mirror I pulled on the waist of the dress in attempt to make some extra room. "It's these damn... sequins and... _uh!" _I collapsed on my bed. I had had enough of the whole scenario.

"Lord Jeebus, it's only a dress."

I sat up with a huff and reached for the glass of wine by my bed. "I can't believe you chose not to go." We're meant to do this as a team. _Yeah, real team work._

"_Chose not to go? _B, the dinner is for managers only."

_Bitch say what? _I turned back to Angela in horror. "What do you mean it's only for managers?! It has never been like that." And why am I going?

"Well the rules have changed this year. No other PA's are attending, B."

"Then why...?" _Bossman better say goodbye to his balls. 'Cause I'mma going to need earrings to go with this dress._

"Are you that stupid?"

My arms were folded tight under my tits. That was one thing I loved about this dress - they added _at least _a cup size. My puppies have never looked so good. But forget about that, I was still pissed. "I'm not going then. Fuck him."

Angela reached for her own glass, "that's just the wine talking, babe."

"This is only my second glass. But I'll need a second bottle now."

"Oh now don't be a pussy!" She belched loudly in a fist. "'Scuse me. Take this opportunity to be a lady for a night, B."

"A lady? Ha! I wouldn't be surprised if I pulled down my pants and found a dick." The two of us cracked up laughing and happily poured another glass of wine. With only thirty minutes before Bossman said he'd arrive with his driver, Ang got started on my hair. Because of the glisten from the sequins that made up my dress, apparently I didn't need jewelry, and according to the expert it was better if I left my hair down, then tied it up. Ang gathered the sides of my hair and clasped it at the back with a bobby pin. She added some grey sparkly shit to my eyes, along with mascara and eyeliner, but that was it.

I still had ten minutes, and with some wine left in the bottle, it would have been rude not to finish it, right? I spent good money on that shit. And I needed the liquid confidence for a night with my new friend Carlisle, and all his flying monkeys.

There was a loud _rap rap rap _on my front door at precisely six-thirty. I performed some awkward shimmy-push-up maneuver to emphasis the puppies, downed the last quarter of wine, gave myself one last pep talk, and went to answer it.

"Remember B," Angela looked me firmly in the eyes, "you are a strong, independent woman and you don't need a man to complete you."

"Thanks Dr. Phil; I feel so much better about myself."

"Now, go get him!" She all but pushed me out the room. I stumbled slightly on the skyscrapers that were attached to my feet, but caught myself on the wall before my ass could make contact with the ground. On answering the door, I placed one hand seductively on my hip and pushed out my tits more. I had a slight feeling the wine had started to take affect already. _That must have been some crazy ass strong stuff. Oops._

"_Woah." _Edward stood there in all his manly glory, wearing a dark grey suit with a pale grey shirt and no tie. His eyes took me all in. "Maybe you can polish a turd after all."

_Ha. Ha. Ha._

_Dick._

"You better like it, 'cause you paid for it." Roberto Cavalli is not cheap. Let me tell you.

"Oh, I like it alright."

_I'm sure you do, you dirty bastard._

But to be fair, it was a sexy dress. Black lace, sequins, a halter neck and a thick leather belt in the middle to slim it all in. It itched in the wrong places and I don't know how I'll get out of it, but for over seven-thousand dollars that was not something you complain about.

"This is a very important night, Isabella." We were seated side-by-side in the back of his car. Bossman had appeared and turned serious all of a sudden. "I don't want to regret bringing you along." When he spoke next, it sounded more like he was talking to himself. "Nicholas Brandon's daughter will be there - she missed the past two. Apparently she just got married; it would be nice to see her new husband."

_Cool story, Bro; tell me more. _

Finally (after what seemed like a year) we pulled up to the grand hotel this shindig took place in. A red carpet ran up the path and to the doorway where two guardsman stood proud. I had to remind myself that the majority of people in that building were sophisticated old farts who wiped their ass with fifties. I couldn't go about my usual behavior - I needed to blend in. To begin with, I linked my arms with Bossman's and pouted my lips as much as I could.

"Oh, Edward, this is simply _spectacular!" _I don't know why that came out in a poor British accent, but it did anyway.

"Bella..."

"_I'm trying to blend in." _I whispered.

The room was alive and full of people all different shapes, sizes, accents and age. "Do you see that balding man to your left?" Edward whispered, discretely pointing to said balding man. When I found who he meant I spotted the obvious gut that bulged over his pants, then the glass in his hand that he sipped from lightly. He was in mid-conversation with a tall blonde in a gold dress.

"That is Gregory Brandon - Nicholas' brother. He fought tooth and nail to take over NY after my father; but Rose and I beat him to it."

"Aah, so he could have been my Bossman?"

We shared a smile, "he could have been, yes. But I think we both know I'm the only one who'll ever be your Bossman."

_I got the tingles in a silly place..._

0-0

The drinks were flowing like piss from a race horse, and my fragile state at home only continued to get worse. When an attractive young waiter offers your a glass of champagne - _free champagne - _you accept it. But in accepting that, you must accept what is more than likely to happen. I was carted around the hotel with Edward constantly holding onto my arm. He stopped to speak business with people and I smiled politely like the sensible woman I tried to be.

I knew exactly what to say if someone asked me whether I enjoyed the champagne. "_A little below par for my liking," _but if they asked me anything else I was fucked.

Through the noise of the crowd I could hear the weasely voice of Michael Newton - CEO of B&amp;C Houston and the biggest flirt the Lord ever made. I imagined him greeting me with a "_Oh heeey there, lil' lady!" _(is that what Texans' say?) Then continue with a 'whose dick is bigger' contest between himself and Bossman. So a way to end that before it began, I politely made my escape to run from Mr. Newton. Edward was mid-conversation with a older lady in a sapphire dress. I recognized her face, but nothing else.

"Do excuse me," I tapped his arm gently - my voice had, again, taken on a British tone. "I must take a trip to the ladies room." I didn't realize how unsteady I was on my feet until I had to walk I didn't fall, but I had to catch myself often.

After relieving myself of the force in my bladder, I stumbled back to Edward who, once again, had a different stranger in mid-conversation. This lady was petite - very petite - and had slipped her annoyingly thin waist into a silky yellow thing. She had jet black hair styled in a curled bob and reminded me of Rizzo from 'Grease'. From what it seemed - she had a thing with touching Edward's chest with her fucking manicured claws. Both were laughing. I didn't see what was so funny.

I sensed the two would have wanted a moment alone, and so I slipped past them subtly without being noticed. "_Bella?" _Fuck. I got noticed. I tried to act like his calling had gone unheard, but Bossman knew me too well, and knew I had heard him.

"Yes?" Everything inside of me wanted to ignore her roaming hands.

"Are you okay?" He looked concerned.

_Like I fucking care._

I waved a two fingered salute, "I'm awesome, Bossman."

Rizzo giggled a girly laugh.

_Shut it, bitch._

"I want to introduce you to someone."

_I'm not interested in meeting your new fuck buddy, Boss._

_Instead, I need wine. Lots and lots of wine._

"Bella this is Alice Brandon. Alice, this is Isabella Swan."

_Brandon? _Great, so not only was Rizzo his new bit on the side, her father was Bossman's other Bossman. Excellent.

"Edward it's Whitlock now, remember?" She wiggled her ring finger and the glistening rock that sat snug upon it.

_She's also married..._

_Hmm... Angela always told me I judged things too quickly._

"Of course, how could I forget. Is the lucky man here, tonight?"

When I knew she was married and not wishing to wiggle her way into Edward's bed, I saw the two of them in a completely different light. They were simply friends having a catch up after not seeing each other in a long while. Rizzo (or, Alice I suppose) wasn't flirting; she was touching his chest. That was it.

_Honestly Bella, you're such a tit sometimes._

"And Isabella," She jolted me from my deep thoughts. "What is it you do?"

I was in the middle of thinking up some upper-class answer, like: '_well on the days that I'm not taking the children to their classical piano class, I'm on trips to Venice in my largest yacht.' _until Edward interrupted. "Be yourself, Bella." He spoke loud enough for us both to hear him.

Be myself, you say? I'd regret that if I were you, Boss.

"I wipe his ass." I spluttered and pointed at him sternly. "And drag him from the shit when he gets in it."

Alice burst into laughter. "I like you, Miss Swan."

"I think Isabella has enjoyed more than her fair share of alcohol."

I smiled sweetly up at him with a flutter of my lashes, "I'm just being myself, Edward. Like you said."

Again Alice laughed, "we're going to be best friends; I can see it now!" After our brief conversation, Alice left us to find her husband so we could be introduced. With twenty minutes still to go before we sat down to eat, we continued on with our steady walk around the crowd.

"So, what do you we do at this shindig?" I asked, sipping on yet another glass of champagne. I had lost count how many I had had.

"Well, soon we'll go through to the dining room where we'll have toasts and speeches, then we eat and finish the night with a dance."

_A dance? _My ears perked up. "What type of dance? I'm fucking superb at the TimeWarp. I own that shit."

_But it's the pelvic thru-u-ust. That really drives you insa-a-a-a-ne..._

Bossman laughed, "I doubt they'll play that song."

_Damn. _"What about the Macarena?"

0-0

I was pleased to know that we hadn't been given certain seats and you could choose where you sat and who next to. Alice begged for us to sit beside her and Jasper (the poor guy she married). Princess Cullen - much to my dismay - also chose our table. I hadn't noticed until that moment that she had brought a date with her. Macho Man Muscles - who I later found out was actually called Emmett - had somehow squeezed his incredibly broad body into a tux.

"I didn't realize Ms. Swan had been invited, Edward? Had I known I would have brought Ms. Weber." Rosalie knew exactly what she was doing.

"That is none of your concern, Rose. You didn't hear me say anything about your date."

_So... am I his date...?_

Princess squeezed Macho Man's giant arm. "Oh, baby brother; Emmett and I have been official for over a month now."

_Whoopty fucking do, Basil._

"And how do you know Isabella and I aren't official?"

_Shut up, Bossman._

"Because I know your type."

_Er, excuse me? Bitch say what?_

My next words slipped through the invisible filter. "In actual fact, this is our one week anniversary. Isn't that right, Eddie-kins?"

_Shut up, Bella._

"And what a week it has been." He swooned. His eyes met mine in a loving gaze. We held it for a beat too long.

_*Cough* Anyway... carry on._

"Do you know what you wish to order, love?"

_Okay, Boss, we're done playing that game now._

_Wine... _

_WHERE'S THE WINE GONE?!_

Now, there was a problem with the menu. It was all in French. The only French food I know is french fries. That accompany a McDonalds burger. How was I supposed to know what anything was?

"_Psst." _I nudged Edward with my elbow. "What is 'Salmon Fume Maison Oeuf Poche'?" I picked the first meal I came across.

"Smoked salmon with a poached egg." He replied with a snigger.

"Thank you. And what is..." I peered down at the main courses. "Canard?"

"Duck."

Magret de Canard...

"Why the fuck do they have a duck called Margaret? Margaret the Duck?"

Everyone at the table started to laugh, apart from Princess, "what an embarrassment." She said with the shake of her head.

_Fine. I'll show her. I don't need Bossman's help._

Next on the menu was: Raviolis De Champignons.

Well, ravioli is ravioli - simple. And champignons is... champagne? champagne ravioli? Meh, I'm sure it'll be fine.

But it wasn't fine. "_Eurgh _it's got mushrooms in it!" I complained, picking at the shriveled black things with my fork. "They look like dead slugs."

"Well of course it does, it's mushroom ravioli you idiot!" Princess spat.

"Rose!" Edward leant in to me and rubbed my bare shoulder. His touch made me shiver. "I think it would be best if you stayed quiet."

_Don't I feel two feet tall... _

And if Edward wanted me to stay quiet? Then I would. But to keep my mouth busy, I went for the unlimited alcohol. And one cannot stay quiet after drinking their weight in free wine.

"Y'know what I've noticed, Bossward?" *_Hiccup* _"Everyone is old here. Like, it's fucking Jurrasic Park. _Look! A T-Rex! _Oh wait, that's just your sister." I cracked up laughing at my own joke and slapped his upper arm playfully.

Everyone was quiet, apart from Alice. She was giggling into Hubby's shoulder. And all was fine, until a bubbly feeling was felt down below followed by a quick burst of air. "I just farted." I said with a straight face. Alice completely lost her shit, followed by Macho Man Emmett. "Christ and it stinks!"

_Must have been that oeuf poche._

"Edward! Get her out of here!"

Edward didn't reply to the T-Rex but he did listen to her, 'cause all of a sudden he had my arm and was trying to pull me from my seat.

"But we haven't had the dance yet! _Let's do the TimeWarp aga-a-a-a-in!"_

"Maybe when we get back, yeah?" He compromised. Or, attempted to.

"Are you gonna do the pelvic thrust, Bossman?"

His stern lips broke into a smile. "If you're lucky."

0-0

The car journey home was long, and every time we stopped suddenly I felt like I was going to hurl.

"I'm sorry I ruined your night, Bossman." I had my head against his shoulder. His arm was wrapped around me and rubbed soothing circles on my waist.

"Don't worry about it. I hate those things anyway." I believed him; he sounded sincere. But the drunk in me had to double check.

"Are you sure? 'Cause I don't want you to hate me."I wanted to look up and see his expression, but I was too comfortable where I was.

"I could never hate you, Bella."

"And apparently we're now dating?" I hate wine. It makes me say stupid things.

"Apparently so. Rosalie believed us anyway."

"She did?" I lurched up in surprise. The motion had me groaning and clutching my throbbing head. Edward settled me back down. "How did she believe that?" I asked once the motion sickness had vanished.

"I don't know, but she did anyway."

"That'll be a fun one to explain."

"It will..." He mused. "Then again, we could keep the secret going and see if she catches on?"

"Why would we do that?" _For once, something sensible left my mouth!_

"For fun. I say it'll take her... three weeks to realize we were joking."

_Ooh, I like the sound of this game!_

"You're on! I say two weeks."

His laugh rumbled through his chest. "Okay, and whoever loses has to buy dinner."

"But you have Siobhan to make the food for you." _Why would you buy dinner?_

"No, I mean the loser has to take the winner out for a meal and pay for it."

"Fine. Be prepared to lose, Bossman."

"Ooh, Isabella. I think I'm going to win either way."

0-0

**You sneaky little shit, Bossman.**

**For a collage and picture of Bella's dress, head on over to my Facebook group - RosieRathbone FanFiction.**

**Thoughts?**

**X**


	8. Angela

Sorry for the delay, I was sick :(

**CHAPTER EIGHT.**

**BELLA.**

"Mornin', what can I get for you?"

"I need the greasiest thing you have. And a coffee."

The young cashier looked at me with a smile, "this is McDonalds; even the salads are greasy."

_Yeah, but do I look like someone who eats salad? I'm no fucking rabbit._

"Have you ever been hungover?" Behind me, Angela was sniggering.

"Of course."

"Then you shouldn't need to question me on it."

With a smirk, the cashier keyed in my order and a couple minutes later I had a large Big Mac meal. And a coffee. I could have kissed her... but I don't swing that way. No offense. Angela was quiet until we found a spare table in the packed-out restaurant. Then, the second she could, she pounced.

"You've barely spoken a word all day! What happened last night? How much did you drink?"

I groaned into my hands. "I don't know..."

"You don't know? Don't know what? How much you drank or what happened?"

"How much I drank. Unfortunately, you know I always remember what happened."

"So... what did happen?"

"Well, let's just say I'm surprised I still have a job this morning."

Angela choked on a bunch of fries, "_fuck! _It was _that _bad? What did you do? Seduce Bossman? Or... Christ... it wasn't Daddy Cullen was it?"

_"Angela! _ Who do you think I am?" She shot me a knowing glance. "Don't answer that. No, I made a fool out of myself in front of everyone."

"Like..."

My eyes stared down at the table top, ashamed. "I farted."

"Oooh... loud and proud?"

"Silent but deadly."

"Hey, at least no-one could tell it was you."

"Yeah, well... until I shouted out that it was me."

Angela cried out a laugh. People around us turned to watch. "Oh, oh, damn that's brilliant! It is almost like that time you had the shits during college!" She wiped her eyes and continued to ridicule me. "I've never seen you run so fast to the bathroom!"

"Okay, thank you!" _I need your support bitch, not your ridicule. _

However, Angela being Angela, found my embarrassment too entertaining and continued to laugh until tears rolled down her cheeks. I ate my food in silence - praying that the crap could work wonders on my aching, hungover body. I awoke that morning feeling fine - apart from the stirring in my stomach. _Yes! _I thought. _I've dodged that bullet. _But the moment I left for work and had to pay serious attention to the road before me, a pain started behind my eyes. When I arrived at work the pain had spread all throughout my head and the queasiness in my stomach increased. I could barely look Edward in the eyes, too ashamed of how I acted the night before, and the blaring light from the computer screen didn't help my pounding headache.

I had swallowed some pain relief tablets, but they wore off before they kicked in. I wanted nothing more than to curl up in bed and die. That was the last time I took advantage of expensive, free alcohol.

"I haven't told you the best bit." I continued.

"There's more?!"

I nodded with a sad smile. "Because of my big mouth Princess now believes Edward and I are dating. And have been for the past week."

Again, Ang broke into hysterics. "Why did you say that?"

"I don't know! It just kinda... slipped out." _Like a silent fart... _"We then decided to see how long it would take Princess to realize it was all a lie."

Angela's mouth dropped open and her eyes widened. "You do realize what is going to happen now, right?"

"Um... no?"

Her hands slapped the table, "oh, my God! You two will be so comfortable acting around Princess that it won't be a game anymore. You'll be dating for real!" _Aah fuck. _"And before you know it there'll be little tiny baby Bossman's roaming the building."

_Woah, woah woah. Hold your fucking horses. _"When did I become pregnant?"

"When the sexual tension gets too much and you test out the sturdiness of his desk. Lack of contraception and heated moment equals: hello Baby Bossman!"

"Enough, Angela!" I groaned.

My insane friend shrugged her shoulders. "Whatever, but just so you know you and Edward are dating now. Whether it's in front of Rosalie or not. He's like a spider - has you caught right in that web."

I didn't want to believe her, but a part of me knew she was speaking sense.

0-0

The McDonalds did its trick and had worked wonders in my stomach, but the tiredness and headache still remained and as my afternoon wore on I found it harder and harder to focus.

_"Bella." _Edward buzzed through from his office.

I groaned loudly and then pressed the button on the speaker. "What?"

_"Can you come here, please? We need to discuss something."_

_No thanks. Screw you. Let me go home and die._

But of course I could not say that and had to obey his every rule. On entering, I almost felt inclined to drag one foot like Frankenstein's hunchbacked assistant, Igor. Y'know the one with the wandering eyes; one eye is going into the shop, the other is coming back with the change.

"Yes, Master?"

Edward looked very chilled and relaxed leaning back on his swivel chair, jacket off and shirt sleeves rolled half way up his lower arms. To top it all off, he had donned a pair of black rimmed reading glasses. _You handsome bastard, you._

"I have a favor to ask."

_Um, let me think about that one. _"No. I joined you and half the fucking cast of Jurassic Park last night - I've done enough favors for now."

He leant over on his arms. "Oh Bella, you're cute when you're frustrated." _Then I must be fucking stunning when I'm angry. _"Alice and Jasper are coming to the house this evening to discuss future ideas with the business. I need you to be there to overhear everything."

"That's all I have to do?"

"That's all you have to do." He copied with a nod.

"Listen to you talk and take notes?"

"Listen to us talk and take notes."

I smelt something fishy, and it wasn't my underarms in this heat. There was something about the way he looked at me that said it wasn't as simple as that. "Why did you say it was a favor when that is my job anyway?" _Hmm? Answer me this, Bossman._

He rose his hands to the ceiling. "Because I'm asking you to do it after hours."

"Alright, fine!" There wasn't any point arguing with him.

"Excellent!" He beamed a warm smile. "Be there for about six, please."

I mentally worked out when I would get home and how long I'd have to relax before heading off again. I calculated no more than thirty minutes. It was going to be a long, tiring day.

"And Bella!" He called as I retreated back to my desk. I turned my head over my right shoulder. "Rosalie will be there too, so..." He pursed his lips, "pucker up."

I knew it. I knew there was something he was hiding! Yet another evening with that T-Rex. Fucking dammit.

His booming laugh followed me out the room. I was so getting him back for that.

Before I knew it the time had reached three o'clock and finally my work load had been cleared. With only two calls left to make and a tiny stack of files to copy, the end was in sight. There was light at the end of this tunnel. Usually it's past five when I can leave, and if I had the chance of an early finish, I was taking it with both hands and running.

"Edward?" I knocked and he allowed me to enter. I walked right up to his desk and passed him the files. "Here is the work for Monday's meeting - it has been confirmed to start at 11. Also a Miss Sara Green has requested to meet you Monday at 2 - to discuss her grandfather's housing benefits."

Without a word, Edward scanned over the papers then slotted them onto a tray. "You know I don't deal with benefits, Bella."

"Yes, but she adamantly asked for you. I couldn't shake her."

"Okay, okay. Thank you, I'll deal with it."

"Awesome. Well I'm going to shoot off, unless you need me to do anything before I go?"

Edward stared up at me through his thick eyelashes. "There is plenty you could do for me, Bella, but none of it is work related." He shot me a sharklike grin; all mischievous like he was hinting towards something.

I held out my hands. "Right, you horny mess, I'll see you later."

"Don't forget the leather! _*wh-tch*_" He sounded out a whip being snapped.

"Like I said Edward, a horny mess."

0-0

As we waited on Alice, Jasper and Princess to arrive, I sat with one of my favorite ladies in the kitchen and stuffed my face with red velvet cupcakes. Momma Bear and Lily had recently heard about my drunk agreement with Edward last night. To say Lily was excited was the biggest understatement.

"Oh, my goodness, yes! You'll be my step momma! Imagine how cool that would be!"

"First Angela said I'm pregnant and now you're saying I'm marrying him! What gives?" I licked the cream cheese frosting from my lips. _Mmm, orgasmic._

"Yes! You need to have loads of kids - I don't wanna be an only child."

I swung my head over to Kid with a frown clear on my face. "Do you know how babies are made, Lily?"

"Of course I do."

"Then why would you think I'd want your father that close to me?"

She shrugged her tiny shoulders, "I know he wants to be that close to _you." Her father's dick really shouldn't be the focal point of our conversation._ "But in order to do that, you'll need to impress him, B. And the one thing my mother taught me was how to impress a guy."

_Of course that's the only thing Lily learned from Lauren. The fucking gold digger. _

"And you won't have any luck if you don't emphasize the tatas." She motioned towards her forming chest.

"That's enough, Lily. This isn't appropriate."

"But it so is!" She whined, "I talk to my friends about it."

"Yes, but Edward is not some boy in your year at school."

"Fine, so long as you remember what I said about the tatas..." With a cute chuckle she wiggled her hips. "But seriously, Bella, I might not know much about him, but I know Dad needs someone like you."

"What he needs, Kid, he already has. It doesn't matter what you have heard before or think now, your dad needs _you _and nothing else."

Our suddenly-serious conversation was interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell. I didn't go to answer it, only because Edward said he would when it rang. After a few short minutes our first guests were being led into the kitchen.

"Lillian I would like you to meet Alice and Jasper Whitlock." He pointed to each in turn. "They own the company in Chicago. Alice, Jasper, this is my daughter, Lillian."

"Oh, you are precious!" Alice hunched down slightly to hug Lily. "And my _God! _You're practically your dad's double!"

I watched as Edward proudly patted his daughter's shoulder. She held a beaming smile on her face. Before the conversation could properly begin, Rosalie arrived to bring a rotten smell into the equation. She was clearly wearing her favorite perfume. Rosalie had a phone up against her ear - whoever sat on the other end was getting a major ear bashing.

"_If I hear something like that happening again, heads will roll. You are all adults so stop acting like fucking children!"_

"Rose," Edward spoke calmly after his sister had ended her heated call. "I would like you to meet your niece, Lillian."

A protective hold took over me - if that fucking dinosaur harmed her in anyway...

Lily smiled politely at her aunt. Said aunt looked over the young girl before the largest smile I had ever seen her make brightened up her face. "I cannot tell you how nice it is to finally meet you, Lillian." I couldn't tell whether Rosalie was being genuine or not. She, too, dropped down to embrace her niece in a hug.

"It's lovely to finally meet you too."

Rosalie, like Alice, commented on how similar she looked to her father. "And Edward tells me you are also a boxer?"

"Um, yes," Lily nibbled on her top lip. "I'm learning to become one, anyway."

"If you are anything like your dad, you won't need much training." I knew then, from her warm voice, that Rosalie's affection was real.

_Meh, I still hate the witch._

_"_Right, shall we start this meeting?" Edward edged us all out of the kitchen. "We'll have it in my office. Lillian if you need anything just tap on the door, okay?"

"Okay, thanks." Lily grabbed my arm - halting me from leaving with the others. "Remember what I said..." She whispered, then smiled and winked.

In all fairness I did need to get back at Edward for making me come here tonight. Perhaps a little _sweet revenge _was what I needed. I peered down at my white blouse. If I popped open one more button it would reveal my cleavage slightly, but not so that my tits would come flying out. _Hmm... _An idea formed in my head.

When I got to the office the only seat available at the table was one right beside Edward. Perfect. I sat up straight with my shoulders back which pushed my tits outwards and upwards. From the corner of my eye I saw Edward take a subtle glance.

_Revenge Round 1: Complete._

The meeting began - Alice would mention an event idea for the following year, Princess would share her views on it and Edward would either shoot it down or encourage it. With speed, I noted down everything that was said. It was then that I wished I learned shorthand when given the opportunity.

"Before we make any solid decisions, Edward, you will need to tell us when you're visiting Lillian or when she is coming here." Jasper made an excellent point.

"I understand, but her mother and I are not on speaking terms - we don't make these plans in advance." I wanted to add that they never made plans period, but felt it wasn't my place.

"In that case Isabella will pencil in these ideas, and if they have to change we can find a way around that."

_Ooh... pencil._

_Good idea, Mr. Whitlock._

With a slight flick of my hand my pen rolled off the table and landed right were I wanted it to. Between Edward's feet. "Excuse me." I said and bent down to retrieve it. On my way back up, I stroked up the inside of Edward's leg until I reached the middle of his thigh. I saw him tense from my touch, just as I had planned.

_Round 2: Complete._

Whenever the other three were engrossed in the diaries opened in front of them, or were busy talking, I would discretely rub my chest and make sure my fingers slipped into my cleavage - innocently, of course. Edward shuffled on his chair, a sure sign that I had made him uncomfortable.

At one point I put my lack of acting skills to the test and pretended I had a twinge in my lower back. "Ow" I winced and stretched my back out even more. Seeing as we were supposedly a couple, I asked Edward to rub the 'sensitive' area. That's what couples do, right? Give each other a massage? "A bit lower." I commanded and then took his hand and brought it to the bottom of my spine. "Yep, right there." I moaned quietly. His fingers were centimeters from the elastic of my underwear. I pulled his hand away before he could get himself too excited.

_Round 3: Complete._

Half an hour later the meeting had ended.

"Isabella, can you show them out?" His voice was tense, which I would have laughed at had it not been too suspicious.

"Of course," I complied. I saw one more round when I stood to leave. Edward sat closer to the door than I did, so instead of walking around the table like any normal person would, I chose to squeeze past him instead. My ass brushed right over his lap in a sultry manner. I heard Alice snigger the entire time. She caught onto my actions, but Princess was too busy on her cell phone to notice.

Like the perfect assistant, I thanked everyone for coming and promised the Whitlocks that I would see them again soon, hopefully. Princess barely gave me a look as she left for her car. I saw no need to stay any longer than them, so once the last car had driven away I shut the door and headed back to the office to collect my bag and make a quick exit. Unfortunately Bossman did not let me leave so suddenly. He had a face of fury and fists balled tight.

"What the fuck was that?" He demanded roughly.

"Just a bit of fun." I grinned, bending down to collect my belongings. A pair of strong hands suddenly grabbed either side of my hips.

"Oh yeah? Well there's nothing fucking _funny _about this." In an instant I felt _exactly _what my actions had caused. He had a... large problem on his hands. Pun intended. I was spun around to face him.

"Looks like you've got yourself an issue there, Boss."

"I do indeed," his hands pulled me forward so that his chest could rest against mine. With his face inches from my suddenly heated face, he whispered; "and I know exactly who's going to sort it out."

0-0

**Oh, hot damn. Looks like Bella's plan backfired... or did it?**

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**Thoughts?**

**X**


	9. Edward

A bit shorter than the other chapters, but... yeah, I don't think you'll be complaining.

**CHAPTER NINE.**

**BELLA  
**The feeling of the scruff that coated his jaw as it rubbed against my neck sent shivers down my spine. His whispering hands travelled higher until reaching the mounds of my chest. He took one in a hand and my senses came alive! It reminded me of something my Mom used to say - "_the tip for forming the perfect bread roll is to imagine the dough as a perfectly sized breast." _Why I was thinking about my mother as Bossman had his wicked way with me, I'll never know. And that is wrong on so many different levels.

"Five years." His rasping voice cleared anything to do with my mother from my mind. Thank fuck. But that was all he said. His mouth had been put to better use as he left lingering kisses on the base of my throat. Teeth scraping and tongue licking; I was losing all sense of recollection.

_Holy fuck, Bossman knows what he's doing._

I slipped my hands through the flaps of his suit jacket which only ushered him closer to my heated body, and if what he packed down there was as big as it seemed, I was in for one helluva ride. And needed to stock up on Tylenol.

I'd be walking like John Wayne all week. _Holy hell._

My backside somehow came in contact with the desk, still cluttered with various bits of paper. Edward rose me up to sit on it.

It was then that the knowledge of _what _we were doing became known. This could be the stupidest thing I've ever done, or the best. I mean, the guy is my _boss! _If it was a one-time-fuck there was no chance in hell I could work with him anymore. It would need to be all or nothing, 'cause I don't hump and dump. Nor do I get humped and dumped.

As much as it pained me to do so, I put a hand on his chest to halt his movements.

"Bella?" Confusion was written all over his damned beautiful face. Sometime during our '_get to know you session' _he had lost his tie and the first few buttons of his shirt had been popped open.

_If you just wanna undo a couple more... _

_No! Concentrate for fucks sake._

"What are we doing?"

He looked at me like I had five heads. "I thought it would be quite apparent what we are doing."

"But... is this a one-time thing? 'Cause if so you can take advantage of Rosy Palmer and her five sisters."

Edward brushed down my waist, along my thighs and stopped on my knees. "You've been driving me insane ever since you walked into my office five years ago. If it was a '_one-time thing' _I would have bent you over my desk months ago."

"Wow, Boss, how romantic of you. I bet you charm _all _the women into your bed."

He leaned forward with a sexy smirk pressed to his lips. "You haven't seen romantic yet."

I faked a swoon, "how much better could it get?" _My father always did say I was too snarky for my own good._

"Just you wait and see. But to answer your question, Isabella, I have no intentions of '_humping and dumping' _\- as you put it."

The sudden draw between us was just like all the cheesy crap I read in romance novels; "_A magnetic force - he was north and I was south." _But with Bossman and I, I would describe it more like the pull between a fly and a shit. He being the shit, of course.

His mouth was on mine in an instant. What started as light pecks soon escalated into a sensual make-out with us using the table top for surface. His wandering hands found the flesh of my stomach and when he realized that my blouse was too tight for what he had planned, Edward grabbed the thin material and pulled so that the buttons went flying and he was left with full access.

_Thank God that wasn't my favorite blouse. But then again, I don't think I would have given a fuck either way. _

_That. Was. Hot._

Just as I thought we were going somewhere, there was a knock at the door. _"Dad?" _It was Lily.

I love you and everything, Kid, but please... _piss off. _

"Yes, Lillian?" Edward was not amused, and I think Lily could tell.

_"Um... Sorry, I just wanted to know, er, has Bella gone yet?"_

What is the correct answer to that? Say yes but then explain that I was seconds away from having him balls-deep inside me? Or lie and say I had gone?

Boss decided for me. "No, she's already gone. Are you okay?" So he can be caring towards her, even when she basically cock blocked him. Maybe the Tin Man does have a heart after all, Dorothy.

_"Oh, yes, I was jus' gonna... never mind. Do you mind if I use your gym?"_

"That's fine."

When we were certain that Lily had left, we were back to action stations. "You're not going anywhere." He whispered in a deep, sultry voice.

_Sir. Yes, Sir._

0-0

We ended up vacating to his room instead of staying in the office. I have found from previous encounters that a bed is a lot comfier than a solid table. Who'd have thought, right? But no, I had briefly seen his bed before and if it didn't look like the comfiest damn thing available. A thick mattress, fleece comforter over Egyptian cotton sheets and three puffed out cushions all in a light grey shade. And to make the experience even better, he had a fleeced rug underfoot. That feeling on your toesies is indescribable.

But at first I wasn't paying attention to that - he could have dragged me to the fucking garage for all I cared. I paid no mind to anything but the eager tongue between my legs.

_Holy guacamole. _

_He should have that thing locked up for doing illegal moves on an innocent victim._

My hands fisted the sheets I lay on, my back arched as the pleasure rippled through me. The moans that slipped from me only encouraged him further. No words were exchanged when he stalked back up to me. I slipped my hands around his neck and pulled him down to me.

I kept thinking how wrong this was, and it was only going to end badly, but the devil on my shoulder was telling me to shut up and not think twice about it. I could have stopped at any point, but when my hands reached for his belt buckle I came to realize that the devil won that argument.

In a flash his pants had been removed and received the same fate as my own clothes - thrown somewhere without a care. All that was left to remove were his boxer briefs. With a childish grin, Edward stood from the bed and wiggled his hips as he played with the elastic of the boxers. I noticed the white lettering of Calvin Klein run along the top.

_Thank you very much for the beautiful view in front of me, Mr. Klein._

Edward's routine had me snort loudly into my hand. (_Way to attract the opposite sex; snort.) _"Don't try and be sexy, Bossman."

"Who said I'm _trying_? This has never gone wrong for me before." He joked.

I continued to laugh, but the second the Calvin Klein's were removed... _oh, crap._

_Walking like John fucking Wayne indeed._

With my bent arms keeping me upright, I took it all in. Before wondering whether I could literally take it all in. My more recent bedroom triumphs hadn't been small, but definitely _smaller. _

"You look worried," he observed, stroking my cheek with a bent finger. "I know, I can be pretty intimidating."

I slapped his bare arm as we laughed. "Dick."

"Well done, Isabella; it is a dick. Clearly you had a decent academic upbringing."

"Yes. I know what to do with one, too."

His eyes darkened slightly at the prospect. "Then I'd love for you to show me."

Once again the humor disappeared and we were sucked into the heat of the moment. As my hand worked him, his hand worked me. It did not take long for my body to begin to shut down and for loud moans to fill the room. I became guilty for a majority of said moans, especially when Edward's lips ghosted down my chest and came to rest on my breast. His tongue licked my nipple sensually.

"Oh, God... please." I begged. I wasn't going to last long if he kept that charade up. And I didn't think he would either. To my pleasure, he leaned over the bed to the side table. Edward wasted no time in ripping open the foil of the condom wrapper. I positioned my knees to that they sat either side of his body and with one hand, I guided him blindly to my entrance.

The kisses never stopped, even when he pushed inside in an agonizingly slow pace. I grabbed at his defined biceps as the gasps flitted from us both.

"_Fuck... Bella."_

The stretching was like something I had never felt before. I wasn't sure whether I wanted to scream out in pleasure or pain.

The hands that were on his biceps rose higher and grabbed onto the locks of his messy hair when he began to move. It was slow to start with, however when his greedy hands took a hold of my ass cheeks to assist in the leverage, there was nothing slow about it.

"Christ!" I called. "Yes, more... more."

Thrust after thrust I met him. I could feel myself getting closer and closer, and by the looks on his face and the speed of his movement, I knew he was too.

_"Come for me, baby." _He grunted. It didn't take me long, and he followed quickly behind. His name spilled from my lips as I attempted to get back into some sort of normality.

"Fucking hell, Edward; you've ruined me."

Boss lay gently on top of me and used his hands to tame back my unruly hair. "Tell me that's not a one-time thing." His voice was soft in a whisper, but it held the edge from our recent escapade.

"It better damn not be."

Edward laughed through his nose. "Will you stay the night?" He asked with a kiss to my forehead.

I agreed without hesitance, only because I could barely fucking walk.

0-0

I awoke the next morning with his warm body spooning me and a growing problem rubbing against my ass. Sometime during the night I had woken up in the same predicament, which lead to round 2 and now I was in some serious pain down below. I felt him move behind me followed by a loud yawn. Bossman was awake.

"Mornin' beautiful." He mused, kissing my bare shoulder.

That was something that had started to piss me off. We slept together twice - thats it. That doesn't automatically make me his girlfriend and give him the need to use pet names.

As I turned to face him, the cramp intensified which had me wincing. It did not go unnoticed by Edward.

"Shall I run you a bath?" I admit that was cute - a bath was a godsend that I needed, and I probably would have felt like a cheap whore had he just thrown me out the bed and left me to do my own thing.

"Yes please; I'd love one." I accepted with a smile.

"Excellent, so would I!" With a final kiss to my forehead he was out the bed and walking his naked ass into the adjoining bathroom. I may or may not have followed his every step with my eyes... _What? Bossman was a sweet ass._

I decided to take the time he took to draw the bath to check my phone for anything we might have missed during the night. It's seldom people would message us first thing on a Saturday morning, but it still happens.

As thought, I had a few new emails and a couple text messages. One being from Angela who had asked me last night if I wanted to join her for wine and a take out.

I replied: **Um...** **Sorry, was kinda tied up last night ;-)**

A few minutes later her reply arrived. **Damn girl! Tell me all! Do I know him? Do YOU know him?**

Um, yeah... I'm quite familiar with him.

**Bella: Yes - you and I both know him. But I can't talk; he's just run us a bath :-P. Tell you all on Mon!**

**Angela: B, it's not Bossman... is it? **

**Bella: Maybe... maybe not.**

**Angela: OMG! It so IS! **

Before I could reply, Bossman had returned to the bed to tell me everything was ready. I was hit with a wall of fruity, flowery greatness on entering the bathroom - the bubbles that towered above the bath side where a dead giveaway. Looking at the beautifully run bath filled me with some sort of strange emotion; I loved that Edward took the time to make me feel special, but I was also worried that we'd return to work on Monday and he'll act like the asshole that usually greeted me at the office. We said it wasn't a one-time thing, but what did that include exactly?

Edward climbed in first and then held out his hand to help me in. I practically sank from the way the hot water soaked my tense muscles. A pair of strong arms slipped around my waist and pulled me back so I could lie against his broad chest.

"Are you okay?" He asked, with a hint of concern.

"Yeah; just a bit sore." I imagined he would have had a very smug smile on his face at that comment.

"Shame, we can't do what I had imagined." His hands suggestively tickled my thighs.

"And... what was that?"

"Well, Miss Swan," he whispered seductively into my ear, "for my next order of business..."

0-0

**I'll just be here, smoking away. **

**For those of you used to my work you should know that I have never done a chapter like this before - proud? And for a picture teaser head on over to RosieRathbone FanFiction on Facebook.**

** Thoughts?  
X**


	10. Bunny

Thanks to everyone who has rec'd WCB so far! Much love.

**CHAPTER TEN.**

**BELLA  
**The couple weeks following our blowout (pun intended) were probably the most awkward two weeks of the twenty-nine years that I have been on this planet. I mean, that weekend was fine - Bossman was cute and attentive and it made me wonder whether he'd already given us a label, but the second he walked into that fucking building on monday morning, the 'Edward' I knew had vanished, and 'Assward' had taken his place.

_Dick._

One minute he would demand that I do something for him and call me Isabella, and the next he would work some cheesy magic - curl the hair around my ear or some shit - and call me a pet name or five. It didn't help the case when it felt like I was walking on egg shells the entire time. And let me tell you, they were some large fucking eggs.

"Good afternoon; Brandon and Cullen agencies New York, Isabella speaking. How may I help?" It was a very mundane phone call from a client who required some information without me having to transfer them through to Edward. It was as I flipped through the paper document beside me that I heard the ever so slight squeak of his glass door.

"Yes, Mr. Dorman," I spoke politely into the receiver - doing my best to ignore my one-man audience. "Your last payment was on April 2nd for a total of twenty-five-hundred."

_"I see. And how much is still standing?"_

I searched down the paper to where his original number was written and worked some very quick mental arithmetic. Edward stood beside me and gently, gently stroked up my arm. I found it exceedingly difficult to stay cool, calm and collected. It was the lightest touch that made my... _girly bits _go wild!

I cleared my throat. "Your new total is sixty-seven hundred."

_"Okay... and when does that need to be paid off by?"_

I fought back the urge to tell him that if he looked at the fucking email I sent he would have seen all these answers written down for him. "You have until September 2nd, Mr. Dorman."

_"Yes, yes - of course. Can I pay some off now?"_

"Absolutely. I don't deal with the payments and so I'll need to transfer you to a different department. Is that okay?"

The old fucker sighed loudly. _"I suppose so, yes." _

"Thank you. Please hold on."

I placed Mr. Dorman on hold and then keyed in the number that rang down to banking. Once I knew he was successfully put through I hung up my own phone and practically collapsed on the desk. Edward continued his teasing, but his hand moved to my back and the tease quickly turned into a comfort.

"Awkward customer?" He asked.

"Mr. Dorman. You say one thing and it goes in one ear and out the other. Maybe your words get lost in translation from all that fucking hair that sticks out of them! I swear you could braid those beasts!"

Edward let out a hearty laugh. "He's one of our more loyal clients, Bella."

"I know that." I scrubbed my face with finger tips. "So you would have thought he'd know the answers by now."

"Oh, baby, don't get worked up over it."

_Er... excuse me? _

_Bossman say what?_

Not even an hour ago he was demanding me for coffee, now he's acting like my friggin' boyfriend and calling me 'baby'. What gives, Bossman? Why do you gotta be so confusing, huh?

Oh, I know... He's after something, isn't he? A little _summin summin _to pass the time?

"I'm not getting worked up over it," I said with a sigh, "I'm just tired."

Before I knew it Edward pulled me closer so that my head laid against the bottom of his stomach. "Am I working you too hard?" He stroked my pony tail. As much as I didn't want to admit it, his soothing touch worked wonders, and my arms somehow came to wrap around his waist.

"No - don't worry about it."

"Will you tell me if I do?" His question had me thinking. I was working the same that I always did, and so why only then was he concerned about how much I worked? It didn't make any sense.

"Would it change anything?" _I bet you it's just so that he gets some action. Horny bastard._

He stood back from me and stared down with an unreadable expression. "Of course it would - if I'm working my staff too hard I want to know."

_Well you weren't complaining the other week, Boss. _

"Have I complained in the five years I've been here?"

Edward laughed lightly and tapped my shoulder, "you mean apart from the time you broke down crying a month after you started?"

_Yeah, thanks for that. _"Okay, forget that part." Until that point, I hadn't realized how mentally draining this job was. So a month into practically working every day I was exhausted and let my emotions get the better of me. I had a feeling that Edward never imagined me staying as long as I have done.

He moved his hand from my shoulder around to my waist so that I was hugging him once more. "I'm only kidding, Bella."

Just as I made myself comfy against him the phone rang again.

_See if it is Mr. Dorman... I won't be a happy bunny._

I lifted the phone and spoke my perfected line; "Good afternoon; Brandon and Cullen agencies New York, Bella speaking. How may I help?"

_"Bella?" _The voice was soft and gentle, and I knew who it was instantly.

"Lily? You okay kid?" It was only just midday; she wasn't supposed to finish her class till five. Edward went back into 'Boss mode' and stared down at me in confusion. He was thinking the same thing I was.

_"Yes. Um, is my Dad there?"_

I peered up at Edward. "Absolutely, hang on a second." I covered the mouth piece with my hand and whispered, "Lily wants to talk to you."

Edward took the phone without a seconds hesitation. "Lillian? What's wrong?" I watched his tense features relax. "Oh, okay good... when is it? Tonight?... Right, let me ask Bella." _It was like a game of fucking pass the parcel with that phone. _"Are there any meetings booked for this afternoon?" He asked me. I checked the diary and shook my head no. "That should be fine, Lillian. Is this your first one?... Excellent, I'll make sure we are there... Okay, goodbye."

"What is it?" I asked once the phone had been placed back onto it's handle.

"Lillian is taking part in her first match this evening and she wanted us both to go."

"A match already? She's only been there three weeks!" That felt awfully quick to me and too sudden to get kids into a ring.

"I know," he said with a shrug, "but we don't make the rules. If they are ready then they are ready."

I couldn't complain about that. After all, he does know the sport slightly better than I do. "What time does it start?"

"She said to be there for three-thirty - wants me to meet the coach or something. So make sure I have no conference calls, or anything that may take a long time, past two-forty-five."

I saluted him with two fingers. "You got it, Boss."

He winked at me before he turned round on his heels and headed back for the office. I may or may not have had my eyes surreptitiously trained on a lower region of his body... What? I'm only human. And that man has the finest ass...

_You know what to do with that big fat butt..._

_...wiggle, wiggle, wiggle._

0-0

"Good afternoon; Brandon and Cullen agencies New York, Isabella speaking. How may I help?" If I had to say that line one more time that day I would have cracked. A Hulk rage would have erupted from my tiny body. I spent more time on the telephone than on my computer in the seven short hours I had been in the building.

_"Bunny!"_

_Oh Christ._

And I thought it couldn't get any worse. My dear mother was on the other end, cheering out the nickname she gave me twenty-five years ago.

"Hello mother."

_"Oh, Bunny, how are you? It's been so long since we last had a chit-chat."_

"We spoke four days ago, Mom. Remember?" Then again, it was midday when I phoned her, so she would have been on her fifth or sixth martini. Possibly seventh if she was having a good day.

_"Oh! You know me, Bunny - Miss Scatterbrains! But how are you anyway? Enjoying a relaxing day off?"_

Part of me wanted to curse in frustration at how often I needed to repeat myself to her, but I couldn't help feeling concerned. Surely she couldn't have had that much to drink already - not enough to make her forget what day it was.

"It's Wednesday, Mom - I'm at work."

_"Then why are you at home?"_

"I'm not... you phoned the office."

_"Oh... anyway, there was a reason why I rang. Y'see Phil has to go away for a week with work," _my step-dad played for some baseball team in Florida. They thought they were the bee's fucking knees and the new Boston Red Sox. They really weren't. Even _I _could hit a ball and run to a marker. Doesn't make me Babe Ruth. _"And he doesn't feel comfortable leaving me on my own - bless his sweet heart. So I thought I could come and stay with you! We could have a nice week together, Bunny. What do you say?"_

I say _hell_ and _no_.

"I don't think that would be possible, Mom. I'm very busy here."

_"But you don't know when it is! Surely that Boss of yours can give you a weeks vacation to spend time with your elderly mother."_

"You're forty-five."

_"Exactly. Elderly. Now, put me on the phone to Mr. Cullen so I can give him a good tongue-lashing." _

_I'll give him a tongue-lashing... _

_HEY-OH! _

_*Cough* sorry, act professional. _"He's a very busy man, Mom. I'll put a request in later on, okay?"

_"Make sure you do, Bunny."_

"I'll ring you as soon as I know. But I need to be somewhere now, so I have to go."

_"Yes, yes - you go and be the hard-working young lady that you are. Love you, Bunny."_

I rolled my eyes one final time at the over-used nickname. "Love you too, Mom."

0-0

Josh was Bossman's driver for the day, and at three o'clock precisely he was parked outside the office block. "NYC Bootcamp please, Josh." Edward was always very formal when speaking to his staff - apart from me.

"Sir." Josh acknowledged with a nod of his head. All you could hear were the ticking of the turn signals as Josh swerved onto the road in search for the bootcamp.

"So how long has it been?"

My question broke Edward from his concentration, he looked up from his BlackBerry with a startle. "Huh?"

"How long has it been?" I repeated.

"Since what?"

"Since you last took part in a boxing match."

Edward stared off into space - his eyes squinted closed in thought. "Well I left the sport fifteen years ago... but there has been the odd charity fight since then and that was 2008? 2009? So we're looking at least five years."

"Do you think it'll be strange walking in there?"

"Nah - the strange thing will be seeing Lillian fighting in the ring."

I spotted the care and concern he held for his daughter, whether he had admitted it to himself or not. "Why do you call her Lillian?"

Edward looked at me with a crease on his brow. "Because that is her name..."

"Yes, but has it not come to your attention that you are the only person to call her that? She hates that name, Boss."

He gazed down at his lap, but I knew he wasn't properly looking. "Oh. I never knew that..." Edward seemed to have taken that genuinely to heart. I placed my hand over his and squeezed it in support. He seemed weak and vulnerable for the first time.

"Don't beat yourself up - we still have over a month before she goes home; use that time wisely."

The moment Josh pulled up outside the bootcamp and Edward secured a deal with when to be collected again, the vulnerable man was forgotten about it. Bossman had to walk into that building not only as a parent, but also as an idle of the many child boxers he was about to encounter. I know that if that were me I would have been shitting myself. Majorly.

Entering the gym hall we were welcomed by the crowd of parents already surrounding the ring. I spotted two boys fighting in the middle and a referee dodging their moves.

"Dad! Bella!" Lily appeared from no-where suddenly. She ran over and instantly gave me a hug but when she stepped to Edward you could see the hesitation - could she hug him? Would he allow it? Lily chose against it, even though Edward stepped forward to receive her hug. "I'm so glad you could make it!" She was wearing a pair of orange and black, baggy shorts that stopped mid-thigh and a black crop top which reminded me more of a training bra I used to wear when even my Dad had bigger tits than me.

"Mr. Cullen." A familiar, deep voice broke our little conversation. We all turned to greet her coach-guy... James? Jack? Fuck only knows. "My name is Jacob Black," (close enough), "I'm Lily's coach." He held out a hand; expecting Edward to shake it. But Bossman doesn't shake hands unless he knows them, or he's closing a deal. Jacob retreated his arm awkwardly. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Bossman being Bossman, he nodded his head. "Mr. Black."

A loud cheering from the ring brought it to our attention that the previous fight had finished. Jacob touched Lily's arm, "you're up. Ready, Little Miss?"

"Yep!" She nodded with a wide smile and shoved in her mouth guard.

"Kick their ass, Kid!" I winked and lightly punched her shoulder.

"Good luck." Edward added after me. I guess that was kind of supportive... for him anyway. With a nervous smile, Lily was off with Jacob over to the ring to get ready. We followed on afterwards and managed to score a place to stand on her corner of the ring, beside Jacob. Lily stepped through the ropes and began to loose up her muscles. She pounded her glove-covered fists together.

"Where's her headgear?" Edward demanded.

"Amateur headgear was banned last year, Mr. Cullen."

"I don't care. I don't want her in there unless she is well protected."

"_Edward." _I hissed, cupping his balled up fist. "Just leave it."

"I don't like this, Babe." Because he looked so cute when worked up, I rose on my tip toes and kissed his cheek sweetly. That seemed to calm his mood somewhat. The cheering began as Lily and her opponent, Maci, were introduced.

"Focus Lil', focus!" Jacob shouted as the match began. Maci stepped forward and swung the first hit, but Lily dodged it and issued her own which caught Maci's upper arm. From Edward's reaction and his subtle fist pump, I knew when to celebrate.

"That's it, Lily; you've got this." He mumbled just loud enough for me to hear.

And it did, in fact, look like she had it. Until the end of the first round. Her face was red and flushed - she panted loudly to retain her breath. Lily's ginger hair had turned brown with the sweat that sleeked it back.

"What are you doing?" Jacob suddenly demanded. "You're losing it out there!"

"Hey." Edward stepped closer to the rope that separated him from Lily and Jacob. "Don't you dare speak to her like that." I wanted to stop him before things got ugly, but personally Jacob was acting like an ass and could do with a threat. _Dick._

"Excuse me, Mr. Cullen, but she won't learn from being sweet-talked."

_Oooh fuck. Say goodbye to your head, Jakey Boy. _

Round two started and Lily was no-where near as strong as she was when the fight began. Maci was on top form and dodged every one of Lily's jabs. But instead of Jake calling words of comfort like Edward and I, he stood there, arms folded, watching the battle commence. I watched the young girl in front of me fall weaker and weaker.

"Guard, Lily." Edward urged. His hands shook with nerves. "Remember to guard." However the weaker she grew, the easier it was for Lily to forget those vital moves. Edward must have seen the move coming before anyone else, because instantly he was breaking past to the ropes and shouting "_LILY! BLOCK!" _But before his words were noticed, Maci's fist came up and connected straight at Lily's temple. Her knees buckled and my girl fell to the mat with a loud slap.

My stomach jumped to my mouth when she didn't move for a few seconds. Edward leaped into the ring and crouched down at his daughter's side. He brushed her hair with the back of a hand. I had never seen Bossman look so scared yet angry at the same time. With her safe in his arms, he left the ring. I noticed how Jacob cowered back as soon as she had fallen.

"Is she okay?" I asked as I ran to keep up with his fast pace.

"Unconscious - no doubt a concussion. Get Josh on the phone. Now." He lowered his head to hers and kissed her cheek. "You'll be okay, Lily. I've got you... Daddy's got you."

0-0

**Kind of a filler, but this leads to something important ;-)**

**I can now announce that I have a Christmas project which will start posting December 2nd! It's called 'All I Want for Christmas' and it's the damn cutest thing I've written in a long time.**

**Either put me on alert if you haven't, or join RosieRathbone FanFiction on Facebook for updates and the banner that I have released :)**

**Thanks for reading. Thoughts?**

**X**


	11. Bella

I advise you to look back to the first chapter at Edward's flashback. Some questions are about to be answered...

**CHAPTER ELEVEN.**

**BOSSMAN.  
**I fucking hate hospitals.

The chemical smell that fills the place, various alarm bells that ring from different parts of the building and the crowd of people you can never get away from. I don't have any patience when it comes to large crowds. During my boxing career I visited the hospital on more than one occasion - be it for the a sprained wrist or a broken jaw - but whenever it came to taking someone else, I always refused. However that didn't even cross my mind when I raced inside with Lillian in my arms.

I knew something was going to go wrong - I had that feeling when I saw her enter the ring without any headgear. I hadn't heard the new law about amateurs not wearing a head brace, so I couldn't tell whether it was true or not, but I knew I shouldn't have let Lily go ahead with the match. It was the moment when she lowered her arms ever so slightly to jab her opponent in the stomach. I called for her to block, but Maci saw the weakness before Lily could respond. Her head was a clear target, and had I been a second quicker I could have stopped the hit from happening. I knew from experience what a punch that hard could cause. I had never felt more scared.

I didn't see that son of a bitch - Mr. Black or whatever - in my rush to leave the gym, and he should count his lucky fucking stars; I wouldn't call myself a violent man, but nothing would stop me when it came down to my family. Especially her. Well it was safe to say that she wasn't going anywhere near that building again. She wanted to box? Fine, I'll teach her. At least then she could learn without my fear of her getting injured.

We were seen almost instantly on entering the hospital by a middle-aged woman who asked me on a run-down of what happened. Bella told her everything she needed to know - the shock from it all had rendered me speechless. Panic bubbled up inside me when doctors surrounded Lily and I was unable to do anything. Never in my life had I felt like that - my heart was pounding, my body was shaking, and I didn't pay attention to anything apart from the girl on that bed. Fuck, it was horrendous.

And the main thing I thought of, was how shit of a parent I had been since she was born. I should have been there more often, I should have fought against Lauren when she kept Lily away from me. But I didn't, and now I hate that reserved asshole I became. I know that is no excuse, but at the time it seemed logical.

God, how I was wrong.

I remember it all so clearly - that day almost fifteen years ago.

I was 20 years old and hours away from competing in one of my biggest fights. To be professional at that age, and to achieve what I achieved, was (and still is) fucking impressive. I dropped out of school at sixteen because the only thing I wanted to do was box.

I remember my phone ringing whilst I was having a conversation with my coach. Lauren's name was displayed on screen. We had broken up seven-eight months prior and that was the first time I had heard from her, at first I thought she was ringing to wish me luck with the match, but she never appreciated the sport and never supported me throughout my career. So that couldn't have been it.

No, instead she dropped the biggest fucking bombshell and told me she'd just had a baby - _my baby - _and began to congratulate me on becoming a father. I didn't want to believe her; not once during the nine months before then had she told me her little secret. But I knew Lauren; I knew she would never cheat on me, and now I had to face the terrifying idea of fatherhood. And so, with my father demanding a paternity test and my coach doing his best to get me back in the zone for my fight, I was slowly losing my mind.

That baby was the only thing I thought of as I fought my way through the fight. I entered the second round and completely lost it. I had blood pouring all down my face, I couldn't concentrate on anything apart from Lauren's words.

_You're a daddy! _

_You're a daddy!_

_You're a daddy!_

And that was all it took. Those three words cost me my fight and my whole career.

The paternity test came back positive, as I had expected.

A few weeks later, doctors deemed me capable of long distance travel and so I took the first plane over to Seattle. I couldn't remember how I felt, but it definitely was not the excitement first-time-parents should feel, because it hit me that I had no involvement during the pregnancy - I didn't attend any scans, I didn't pick out clothes or decorate the nursery, I didn't even have any say in her name. All I was was a sperm donor. And when I saw Lillian for the first time, it felt like I was looking at a friends' baby, not my own. However, in time, I found myself bonding with this little girl and Lauren and I came to an adult agreement about custody, payments, and everything else that came with it.

I made the trip over as often as possible, and if I wasn't there for Lily's birthday or Christmas, I sent Lauren an extra five-hundred dollars to buy Lily whatever she wanted. But then one day it just... stopped. My free time became exceedingly hard to find, yet I had promised Lillian that I would see her before her eighth birthday. I booked the flights and the time off and emailed Lauren to tell her and secure it with her... however I never received a reply. A week later, and still no reply. So I rang her instead, and she gave me the excuse: _"I'm sorry, Edward, we can't make it that week." _And that was her answer for every date I offered.

I got in contact with my lawyer, who in turn got in contact with hers. But Mr. Yorkie simply said that everything was fine and Lauren was, in fact, busy on the dates I mentioned. I should have sensed it. Looking back now it's obvious he was talking a load of bullshit.

_Anything to make his new bride happy. Old fucker._

Lastly I was told that Lily didn't want to see me. That fucking ruined me. The idea that I had screwed up somehow drove me to drink - I'd come home from work, hide in my office with something of a strong alcohol percentage, then go to bed. I followed that routine everyday for months.

So I became reserved. I paid Lauren the monthly support and twice a year I'd send the extra for Lily's presents, but that was it. I didn't phone, I didn't fly over and see her, and I didn't offer for her to come here. I was under the influence that she didn't want anything to do with me, so why set myself up for rejection?

"Here ya go, Boss... _Boss!" _Bella spooked me from my memories. She handed me the cup of steaming coffee; my nose turned up at the dirt water before I even took a taste. "Oh, I'm sorry it's not the finest fucking coffee bean hand-picked from Brazil. _Bastard._"

Bella's sharp wit was what attracted me to her in the first place. My father's business partner, Nicholas Brandon, had gotten in contact with me a few months after I took up the role of CEO New York. He mentioned the résuméof a young lady looking for a job with us, and highly praised her words. At the time, my PA was an older lady who didn't have a clue what she was doing, and had admitted to me that she was leaving.

I interviewed Bella, wasn't entirely sure she had the experience needed, however I was blown away with not only her strong ability to keep up a conversation and how she could win her argument without a struggle, but also her looks. _Fuck me, if I didn't dream about those tits for weeks to come..._

My father warned me not to hire someone just because of their looks, but I had a feeling Bella could handle probably anything we threw at her. And so far I have not been corrected.

"I'm sorry. Thank you." I touched her shoulder delicately, and hoped she knew I wasn't just thanking her for the beverage.

One of the various nurses entered the room then, muttering something about checking Lily over. All I paid attention to were the words '_she's making great progress'. _That is all I wanted to hear. All I cared about.

After a distressing seventy-three minutes (yes, I fucking counted), our prayers were answered and Lily's eyes started to flutter.

"Dad?" She whispered, confused.

I was by her side in an instant; Bella too. "Hey, Lil. You okay?"

"What happened? Did I win?"

I smoothed out her hair with a tender smile clued on my face. "Don't worry about that. You were hit on the head, but doctors have it sorted."

With the pad of a finger Lily touched the side of her eye and scrunched her face in a wince as response. "Has Mom been contacted?"

_Like she'd fucking care anyway. _"I don't know; probably."

"Oh..." Tear glazed her green eyes. I had noticed how little of Lauren she's inherited physically, and that made me so damn proud.

"What's up?"

"Will she make me go home...?"

_Over my dead fucking body. _

"Why?" Bella broke into our conversation. She held the same expression as me - Lily wasn't going anywhere.

"Apparently if I got hurt then I'll be on the next plane home. Then again it would mean Mom's _honeymoon _is cut short... and I'm not that important."

_Excuse me? Not that important? I could..._

The anger that purged inside caught a hold of my words. I couldn't think straight, I couldn't speak straight. All I managed to do was stop my fist from making a hole in the wall. How could she say that? Has Lauren made Lily feel like she is nothing of importance? Has it always been like that?

"Edward. Come here." Bella slipped her hand through the crease of my arm and dragged me out the room. I was motionless to stop her. "Are you trying to scare the crap out of that poor girl?" She demanded, pushing my back up against the white corridor walls.

"Did you hear what she said?"

"Yes. But, Boss -."

"But nothing! If she thinks that some damn vacation is more important than my own daughter, her head will fucking roll. She better say goodbye to Lily, 'cause I'm not hiding away anymore."

"You don't need to," her hands rubbed over my tense shoulders, "but try not to get too worked up. You'll need to be level-headed." Without thought, I pulled Bella in for a needed hug. My stress subsided instantly. "Plus, I'm with you," she spoke up, "and I'd give anything to bitch slap that whore. Right in the tit."

I laughed into her soft hair. "You have a wonderful way with words, babe."

She shrugged in my arms, "I know. I get it from my mom." Bella pulled away so she could look me straight in the face. "Now, we're going to go back in that room, look after Lily and deal with her nutjob of a mother later. Yeah?"  
I couldn't stop myself from dropping the lightest, sweetest kiss on her lips. "Yeah. Thank you... for being here."

"You're welcome." And to my surprise, she repeated the kiss. "Come on, Rocky."

0-0

**So... now what do you think? Thoughts on Bossman changed? Let me know!**

**Also, if you see this story rec'd anywhere, please tell me; I'd hate to miss anything :)**

**Until next time!**

**X**


	12. Detective Benson

I owe you all a sincere apology for that delay - December is the busiest time for a chef and after a 12 hour shift I would go straight to bed! But I'm here now :)

Short chapter, 'cause I was in a rush to get it up for you.

**CHAPTER TWELVE.**

**BELLA.**

I was on 'Lily Watch'.

Not that I'm complaining, I don't have to set foot in the office today. But Edward was being all _protective daddy _and wanted me to sit watch with Lily until he could get away from the office. Something to do with not trusting the nurses or some shit like that... I don't know. The only downside was how fucking boring it was! Most of the time Kid slept and the internet signal was so bad I couldn't even log onto Facebook to stalk all the people I couldn't give a shit about.

_Sigh. _Life sucks.

But at least I had my earphones with me, so the times when Lily was asleep I could plug in those bad boys and strut my stuff around the room. I wanted something with a decent beat and none of that depressing emotional shit - I was already in a damn hospital!

_Aah bingo! One can never go wrong with ABBA. _

"...money, money, money, must be funny, in a rich man's world. Money, money, money, always sunny, in a rich man's world. _Oooaah! _All the things I could do, if I had a little money. It's a rich man's world.."

Now, don't judge. I never said I was fucking Pavarotti, right?

Sometime during my rendition of _Dancing Queen _I noticed that Lily had woken up and had found something to watch on the ancient television mounted on the wall. She'd be lucky if she got channels 1-5. We passed a brief wave and I returned to my jumping and jiving.

_Grease _was next on the list. 'Cause _Grease _is always on my list. Any girl that didn't want to tie up John Travolta and perform some move that Christian Grey would find offensive had to be gay. Or blind. Unfortunately the poor guy now looks like a potato. It's a cruel world.

"_I've got chills, they're multiplying, and I'm looooosing control!"_

"_Well, this car is automatic, it's systematic, it's hyyyydromatic, why it could be GREASED LIGHTENING! -"_

"-Bella!"

I flicked out an earphone and spun around to see Kid staring at me with a stern look. "Sorry, Kid - was I being too loud?"

"Yes!" She flicked her hand in the direction of the television, "I can't hear this." The show she was referencing to looked as though it had been made over a decade ago, the fashion sense was... _ooh, Christ, _and from what I could gather one lady was having an affair with the young and handsome doctor, but he was also cheating on her with his maid. Shit was going down on this show.

But what is it with the women on 80's sitcoms refusing to put a bra on? _Is it cold, Ms. Brunette? Yeah, your tits said it all. _

The TV was switched off suddenly. _I was getting into that crap... _

Lily had the remote held limp in her hand and she chewed on her nails with irritation. "You alright, Kid?"

"Bella?"

"Yeah?" I parked my legging-clad ass on the bed beside her knees.

"Is Dad mad at me... y'know... 'cause of what happened at the gym yesterday?"

"What, because you got hurt and couldn't do anything about it? Of course not! I know he's angry at Jake, but he'd never be angry at you."

"Jake? What did he do wrong?"

_What did he do _right?

"Well, apart from allowing you in the ring without proper headgear and barely giving a damn whether you were okay or not."

"But that wasn't his fault - the headgear bit, I mean."

"And getting hurt wasn't yours." I sat up straighter on the bed and held her hands in mine. "Listen, one thing I've learnt is how short Edward's temper is. He may scream and shout, but he'll never mean it."

She brushed off a stray tear, "are you sure?"

I touched my chest and widened my eyes in a _are-you-serious? _expression. "Unfortunately I know your father better than most people, and from looking in his eyes yesterday, there was nothing but care and concern for you."

"So... he's not mad at me?"

That was the first time I remembered just how vulnerable this girl was - she put on a brave face most of the time. However she looked like a young girl who needed someone to cuddle her, brush away the tears and tell her that everything would be okay. Something I doubt she got living with her mad excuse of a mother.

So that was exactly what I did. I slipped my arm around her and held her close. Her crying became louder, but Lily was letting out her emotions.

"Everything he does is for you, okay? Since the day you were born you have been his top priority and his main concern. Don't let anybody make you think differently."

The second I whispered those comforting words, the glass paneled door swung open to reveal the man himself. I wasn't sure whether Bossman had heard us talk or not, but from what it looked like, he was too interested in Lily's crying.

"What's wrong? Are you okay? How's your head? Is it sore?"

_Any more questions you'd like to add their, mate? Christ._

Lily straightened up from my shield. "No - no, it's fine. Bella was just..."

Boss didn't give her anytime to complete that sentence. "Bella did what? What did you do?" He shot me a skeptical look, like I was the bad man in this scenario.

_Excuse me, Fancy Pants, I'll have you know I sat in this room all fucking day looking after your daughter. So don't come in here and accuse me of some bullshit. Dick._

"Bella never did anything, Dad. I was trying to say that she was comforting me."

"Oh... in that case... um, thanks."

_Uh huh? Whatever._

_0-0_

That evening Lily was discharged from hospital once the doctors were happy with how she'd improved. Mama Siobhan ran out the house when we drove up and refused to let poor Kid go. "I've missed you! You cannot leave me for that long again, Lillian!"

"Ooh, Momma Bear means business; she real-named you." I said with a smile.

"I'm being serious, Isabella!"

"Oh, shit. She got me too."

Momma playfully slapped my shoulder, "enough from you. C'mon, Kid; I have a lasagne cooking...with homemade garlic bread."

"Extra cheese?" I asked.

"Yes, Bella. Extra cheese."

_Bullseye._

_God, I'm such a pig._

"Before we sit down and eat, Lily can I talk with you in my office?"

"Edward," I butted in, "she needs to rest - you heard the doctor."

He rolled his eyes, "I'm not making her run a mile, Bella. Come on, you can join us."

I originally thought Edward would make this into a conference meeting where he sat at his desk and watched us squirm under his glare. Yet I was pleasantly surprised. I took the office chair and Edward and Lily sat side-by-side on the couch.

Edward cleared his throat with a quick cough as a way to start the conversation. "I've been thinking..." He started slowly. I picked up on the nerves that filled Lily's every feature. "And I think it would be best if you gave up your coaching."

Her mouth dropped open, followed by the quick on come of tears. "Please, Dad... I'll do better, I promise."

"I don't see what you're going to get out of it, Lily."

I stayed quiet, sensing that it was a father-daughter discussion long over-due. "You! You are what I get from it. The only reason I begged Mom to let me join was because I'd be so close to you! _Please, _you can't make me stop."

Edward rubbed his closed eyes and squeezed the bridge of his nose. Through the years I came to realize that was a move he made instead of crying. 'Cause he's Edward fucking Cullen and he cannot show pure emotion.

"I'm sorry, Lily. I know you enjoyed."

_"Enjoyed it? _Dad, I loved it! I can't go home - I need to stay here."

He dropped his hand from his face, "wait... go home?"

"There's no reason to stay if I'm not boxing..."

"Lily I'm not saying that. I'm saying I don't want you to go back to that gym."

"Oh..."

He cleared his throat again. "I will coach you... if you want."

"Really?" Her eyes were the size of saucers, and a smile stretched from ear to ear.

"Sure."

I wasn't afraid to admit that my eyes blurred up over what happened next. Lily flung herself at her father, who hadn't seen the move coming.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She squealed. Edward looked unsure of what to do, so awkwardly began to tap her back, but when Lily didn't budge, he let go of his worries and wrapped his arms around his daughter just as tight.

"You're welcome," He spoke over her shoulder, "but first we need to make sure you have made a full recovery."

Kid pulled back and wiped away at her eyes. "Yes - anything. Thank God, Mom would have been so pissed."

I had kept my mouth closed for too long, "what, for ending her vacation too soon in order too look after her kid? Poor soul." I had never met this woman, but God I wanted to punch her so hard in the left tit.

"No - Mom said she wouldn't be happy if I came home early, because of all the money she spent to get me this far."

Edward turned his eyes to mine, his brows creased to show that he was thinking hard over something. "Can you do me a favor, Lil?" He

asked as he patted her back.

"Sure." Lily climbed off her father's lap and stood up from the couch.

"Go and ask Siobhan for my usual evening drink, and get one for yourself whilst you are there."

"Okay. Would you like one, Bella?"

I waved my hand, "I'll pass thanks, Kid." She smiled when she left the room. _Cutie._

Bossman was at his desk in a blink. "Bullshit. Absolute bullshit." He mumbled and flicked through various scraps of papers and folders that scattered his desk top and were hidden away in drawers.

"What's bullshit?"

"Everything Lauren has ever said to my kid. I've had enough of this." Edward found whatever it was he was looking for and slid me a brown file with just Lauren's name noted at the top.

"What do you want me to do with this?"

"This is all the (legal) information that I have on Lauren, I need you to find out whatever you can about her, that isn't in that file. We need solid evidence for when I fight for Lily."

_And when did I become Detective fucking Benson?_

_What does he want? DNA samples and fingerprints? Fuck off. _

"Edward I can't do that! I know how to answer the phone and set meeting dates, not go undercover into someone's private life."

"She's a good liar, Bella - Lauren can pull some Goddamn puppy eyes and the judge would take her side."

"And what about..." I thumbed behind me, incase Lily was approaching the door. She wasn't allowed to hear this conversation. "Surely a judge would listen to her."

"Maybe so, but either way Lauren would have more power over me." Lily knocked on the door and entered with two drinks in her hand. "Just get this done, Isabella."

I saluted him with two fingers. "I'll do what I can, Boss."

_I felt like someone on those CSI shows, like fucking Dexter or some shit. _

_Except I don't plan on killing her at the end. But don't tempt me. _

_0-0_

**_Dexter _is my new obsession. Just sayin'.**

**Aren't Lily and Bossman just the cutest?! Christ!**

**Until next time.  
****Thoughts?**


	13. Brody Sharpe

This is one of my favourite chapters, FYI.

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN.**

**BELLA.**

"If you don't get your fucking hands off me right now..."

"You'll what? A little weakling like you can't do anything."

_Ooh, no he didn't. _

With a swift turn under the bed covers, I straddled Bossman's lap and clamped his nipples between my thumbs and forefingers, and then twisted them tight to the side. It gave me great pleasure to watch Boss's face tense with the pain and how his teeth bit down hard on his bottom lip. _Sorry, what were you saying, Boss?_

"Okay! Christ, I surrender!"

"Now tell me you're sorry." I continued to squeeze, 'cause I'm a masochist, y'know?

"I'm sorry." He forced through clenched teeth.

"And say _'Bella Swan is the greatest human ever.'"_

"Bella Swan...is the greatest human ever."

"And finally give me a pay rise. An extra grand would do."

"Ha!" Edward spotted a second of weakness and managed to wriggle his way from under me. "But I could pay you in other ways...?" His wandering hands made their way up my back which caused shivers to fizz through my body.

"What did I just tell you about those hands?" If we didn't have somewhere to be I would succumb to those bad boys like no-ones business.

But, unfortunately, duty calls.

"Fine. But you never said anything about the rest of me."

Bossman plays a dirty game. One that I was very interested in joining in with. However I had to stay head-strong and remember my mother's famous preach: _"The sooner you get the job done, the sooner you can rest," - _granted it usually meant the sooner she could get a drink, but hey-ho; tomato, tomahto, right? Let's call the whole thing off.

I escaped from Edward's dangerous hold and searched for the underwear that had been thrown about the place the previous night. Had I known our business talk would have led to business talk of another matter then I would have brought a change of clothes and we could spend an extra half hour giving it one for the team. _Life's a bitch._

"Bring a change of clothes tonight." It was like he could my fucking mind. "We'll carpool tomorrow."

"Are you allergic to cats?" I asked as I yanked up my leggings.

Edward shook his head in disbelief, "Bella we're not talking about allergies here."

"I know that, but I can't leave my main man hanging."

With one hand he rubbed his eyes, "are you talking about your damn cat?"

"Listen Assward, no-one disrespects Angus, got it?" Edward held up his hands in defense. "Now, if you've stopped your bitching, I need to go and look out my cop badge. I'll see you at the office."

"Hey!" I turned to his calling to see that Edward had sat up and was giving me the biggest damn pout and puppy eyes. That was sign language for '_don't I get a goodbye?'_

"Lord, give me strength." I muttered as I grabbed a hold of his face and pulled myself down to secure a solid goodbye on his lips. "That better?"

"Much." He smiled.

_I know Bossman can be an asshole most of the time, but he also can be damn cute._

_He's a cute asshole._

_Can you get cute assholes? 'Cause most of them are full of shit. _

_Hell, why am I not a comedienne? _

0-0

Angus greeted me at the door upon my arrival. He pawed at my legs and when I picked him up, he nuzzled his little face under my chin. Secretly I hoped it meant that he loved me and never wanted me to leave him again, but realistically I knew it was the fat shit asking for food. Perhaps Bossman and Angus would get along after all - both put on their cute faces when they want food, or some other need met. With kibble poured into his bowl and fresh water in another, Angus left me for his biggest love. As he stuffed his adorable face, I went for my shower and counted twenty minutes until I had to leave again. By the time I left the bathroom I had ten minutes, and Angus had found comfort in the middle of my bed - I get the same way after eating my weight in food.

I had an important interview/meeting planned for the afternoon, which meant I had to force myself into a skirt, which I matched with a plain white blouse that had black cuffs and collar, and some black pumps. My hair was left hanging, but I wore a band around my wrist incase I had to put it up. Need to think ahead in these situations, remember.

I cannot stand skirts. You'll only see me in a skirt/dress if it's a really important event. I'm the kinda girl who wipes their greasy hands on their clothes, wears the same pair of socks two days in a row, could a week or two without touching a razor and could win a belching contest hands-down. And don't get me started on the farting.

An Aerosmith song came into my head as I stared at my reflection in the mirror.

_That, that dude looks like a lady! _

0-0

Inspector Isabella Swan reporting for duty, Sir!

That's exactly what I felt like with Lauren's file in front of me and the task to find out anything that I could. I didn't even know where to start - what was Edward looking for? Criminal offenses? DUI's? Fuck only knows. You would have thought the daughter of a policeman would know what to do. The only thing that came to my head was a background check, so I loaded up Google, typed in the two words and hoped something would guide me further.

_Thank Christ for the interview later, that's all I'm saying._

One sight looked promising however, it asked for Lauren's name and the state she lives in, but after it loaded it came up with jack shit. So much for that lead. Instead I tried the DMV; maybe they'd record something? All I found was a speeding ticket that she received three months ago.

_She could be a fucking Nun for all I know. Her record appears spotless._

On a scrap of I wrote down everything I remembered about the conversation I had with Bossman once. One of his main worries is money and what she does with his - clearly not spent on Lily, so where does it go? She'd need to pay for food, credit cards, housing...

_Hold the fucking phone._

_Holy shit, I think I've got something here._

Excitement bubbled in my stomach as I ran into Edward's office. "Tell me I'm a damn fucking genius." I sang and skipped to his desk with the largest smile on my face.

"Why...?"

"Give me a rough estimate of how many houses B&amp;C Agencies owns in Seattle?"

He blew out a deep breath as he thought. "I'd say... about 30-40 percent? How come?"

"What do you think the chances are that B&amp;C owns her house? If you do, we could find out what she pays per month."

Edward began to smile slowly - his eyes glistened with the same excitement I felt. "That's very clever, babe."

"I know." I brushed off my shoulders with a smirk. "I'll ring them now and report back!"

Thankfully we had a list of all the numbers needed for the entire company, I located Seattle before dialing the number which would take me to banking.

_"Good morning, B&amp;C Seattle Banking, Amelia speaking. How may I help?"  
_

"Amelia, it's Isabella Swan - assistant to Edward Cullen, New York."

_"Hello, Isabella. What can I do for you?" _She seemed to have a very sweet voice - didn't sound too much older or younger than me, either.

"Do you by any chance have a Lauren Mallory on file? She may also be under the name Lauren Yorkie?" That was were my acting skills needed to be top notch. If she smelt something fishy I could've been in deep shit, and Edward included.

_"I'll take a look for you, Isabella." _I heard the tapping over computer keys, and faint mutters no doubt from Amelia. _"I'm afraid not - nothing has come up with either of those names."_

_Fucking dammit._

"Oh, that's no problem at all." I was tempted to scream at her to look again, but I restrained it the best I could.

_"Can I ask why? Perhaps I could ask around the building?"_

"Mr. Cullen asked me to phone you, and didn't tell me a reason." I faked a sigh, "you know what they're like."

Amelia laughed in response, _"I sure do! Well I am happy to help if Mr. Cullen would like to phone me himself."_

"That would involve him putting some effort into his work, Amelia," we both giggled like shitty school girls, "thank you so much for your help anyway."

_"You're welcome, Isabella. Goodbye."_

"Goodbye."

_Sorry, can I just say... Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role goes to Bella Swan._

_0-0_

Not even an hour later and I had given up - I couldn't find jack shit on this bitch and it had given me a headache. Returning with the coffee for myself and Bossman I could hear the repetitive ringing of my phone. I prayed to God it wasn't a client when I answered, 'cause I needed five minutes alone. To my utter surprise and amazement, it was only front office telling me that my interviewee had arrived and asked if it was okay for them to be sent up. I hadn't told Bossman about this meeting, so I hoped he wouldn't be too pissed, but he wants the help, right? He didn't expect me to solve the Lauren Mystery by myself, did he?

The elevator doors _dinged _a few minutes later. I was in the middle of sending an email as that happened, so it wasn't until my guest stood in front of my desk when I looked up to greet him. I then blinked, to make sure he was real.

_I think my nether regions just weeped. _

_Where have you been hiding?  
_

This man was tall and well built with broad shoulders. He had buzzed brown hair and a 5 o'clock shadow covering his defined jaw. He had a face that you wanted to lick. I want to lick his face... can I lick his face?

"I'm Brody Sharpe. You must be Isabella?" His voice was deep and raspy... and did I mention British?

"The one and only," _why did I say that...? _"Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Sharpe. Call me Bella."

"In that case, please call me Brody."

Growing up, I was always told that nobody is perfect; everyone is different and everyones shit stinks. Well meeting Brody put a stop to that idea - what wasn't perfect about this man?

_"Bella?"_

Edward's voice coming from the speaker was like a bucket of reality thrown over me. What do you call someone who wakes up in one man's bed and then daydreams about another? Oh yeah, Lauren Mallory.

I pressed one finger down on the reply button, "yes?" I held up my hand to Brody and whispered "sorry" but he simply winked and waved it off.

_"Can you come here a second, please?"_

"I can't right now, I'm busy."

Edward appeared seconds later with his tie half way down his shirt - someone was stressed. "What has you so -." He noticed that I wasn't alone and rushed to quickly adjust said tie.

"Edward, this is Brody Sharpe. Brody, this is Edward Cullen - co-owner of this company."

"It's great to meet you, Mr. Cullen." Brody held out his hand, because that was how every warm blooded male introduced themselves, except for Bossman. It wasn't a business deal, so he wouldn't shake his hand. To clear away the awkwardness I jumped into the reason why Brody was standing before us.

"Mr. Sharpe is a Personal Investigator who I have hired to assist me with my little challenge."

"Call me Brody - remember Bella?"

The anger practically rolled off of Edward. If looks could kill, poor Brody would be dead. "Very well," he muttered in an even tone. "Can I have a word with you, Isabella?"

_Oh shit, he called me Isabella. Tell my mom I loved her._

"Absolutely. I'll be right back, Mr. Sharpe. Please make yourself comfortable."

Edward reminded me of a raging bull when he closed his glass door. "Who the fuck is that?"

"I told you - Mr. Sharpe is a PI."

"I don't like him."

"Your spidey senses tingling, Boss?" I smirked.

"Shut up."

My eyes rolled at his childishness, "were you serious when you said you wanted to fight for Lily?"

"Of course I was!"

"Right," I placed my hand delicately on his chest in attempt to calm him, "then I need his help. We won't have anything on Lauren otherwise apart from a speeding ticket."

As much as I knew it pained him, Edward had to admit defeat. "Fine, but if he does anything you tell me, right? And I don't want him anywhere near my daughter."

"You think I'd let him around Lily if I thought he'd harm her?"

"Please, Bella... Just..."

"Hey," he looked down at me, "whatever insane thought you have in your mind, get rid of it. I'm going back through now, and I don't want you two to compare the size of your dicks anymore, got it?"

Boss pressed a small kiss on the apple of my cheek, "got it."

Brody was right where I left him, except he was now sitting on the spare chair. I apologized for that little moment but he smiled and dismissed it. "So tell me what it is you are after." Brody brought out a iPad from his bag and brought the thing to life. Once he had the notes app required I gave him a quick rundown of the situation.

"Okay," His finger tips tapped quickly over the glass screen. "It's the money issue we want to focus on first, then."

"Yes."

"Right, and the young girl, how does she feel about all this?"

I scratched my earlobe as a sign of distraction. "She doesn't know this is happening... Mr. Cullen and I have a feeling that she doesn't know anything about a monthly payment - intended only for her. She also thought her father didn't love her and didn't want to see her, which could not be further from the truth."

Brody noted something done, but the glare from the light hide my view. "I'll certainly start looking into the money and it's disappearance."

"Excellent, thank you for doing this."

Brody peered through his exceptionally long eye lashes and stared at me with his baby blues. "You're very welcome, Bella."

_Stop it! Bad girl. Bossman is just through that door._

I needed to get out of that situation before things got any more complicated. "Well I'm going to take my lunch break now; you're welcome to join if you like - I'll be going to the cafeteria with my friend."

_I couldn't have sounded any more like a high schooler. Idiot._

"I think I'll take this time to check into my hotel room, thank you."

Once I double checked what Edward wanted for lunch (he said nothing, just me) I led Brody back down the building and agreed a time to continue with our work.

0-0

"Oh, my God... that's like... when you don't have sex for a month but then you have a weekend of non-stop action." To add even more dramatics to the scenario, Angela closed her eyes and found herself lost in the moment.

Can I just say it was all because of cheesy fries. Mother Nature had been visiting the week before, and she had made Angela think that she was fat, so she ate nothing but fucking rabbit food all week. When I gulped down a large caramel latte with added cream and sugar, Angela chose a Naked smoothie which looked not unlike something I threw up the other week. But now that MN has vanished Angela realized what an idiot she was being and went back to her usual self.

"Oh! And guess who asked me out the other night..."

I knew exactly who it was - the same man who has been drooling over her for the past five months, but I acted the fool anyway. "Um... I don't know..."

"Ben!" _Told you. _"Y'know the man who works on floor seven? Has two adorable kids."

"That's great, Ang! But the kids part... you up for that?"

"Of course I am! I've looked after my brothers before, remember?" _They were fifteen... _"And anyway I..." Her words trailed off and something caught her sight behind me. "Whistle for a hottie... oh, hello." I turned around even though I already knew who it was. "Is he new?"

"Um, yeah, that's Brody - he's helping Bossman with something."

Angela's eyes snapped back to me, "aw fuck you, B! Not only can you stare at Bossman all day, you now get him too?! I have to stare at Queen fucking Elsa and her loyal monkeys that constantly kiss her ass."

"Life's a bitch," I rose my shoulders. "I better go - Bossman will be getting cranky. See ya, Ang."

"Catch ya, B."

Arriving back upstairs I saw that Brody hadn't joined us yet. Edward was still hard at work at his desk. "Knock knock." I announced my arrival.

"I've been thinking, babe." He rolled his chair back from the desk to allow space for me to sit on his lap. With one arm around my back, his hand rubbed my side soothingly. "We should do something for Lil's birthday next week. A surprise."

"I like that. And what were you thinking?"

He pushed a lock of hair behind my ear and finished the move with a delicate kiss to my lobe. "I'm not sure, maybe a trip somewhere? I could borrow the plane for the day?"

"Oh Boss, she'd love that!" His idea melted my heart.

"You think so? I can't remember the last birthday I had with her."

"Then it wouldn't matter what you did, just as long as you're there! But a trip somewhere would be a birthday she'd never forget."

"Right..." He nodded slowly. "And it'll just be the three of us?"

"Just the three of us." I agreed.

I wouldn't have it any other way.

0-0

**Welcome, Brody! **

**There is a picture of him on my Facebook page - RosieRathbone FanFiction. He's one fine piece of ass. Check him out!**

**The comments for the last chapter were incredible! Think we could get the same again...**

**Thoughts?**


	14. Grandma-pa

Once again I need to thank every single one of you beauties for the constant love and support. I know I suck at replying to reviews, but please know that I read them all and they continue to make me smile.

Okay, sappy shit out the way. Let's get on with the show!

**CHAPTER FOURTEEN.**

**BELLA**

Tell me why I'm at Bossman Manor, at six-thirty in the morning, on my day off? And no, it's not 'cause I got my needs met the night before. It's because I'm the bee's fucking knees and the best assistant anyone will ever have. Today is Bossman's birthday - turning the big three-five! - and Lily wanted to make him a cake (cutie), so I offered to help... Siobhan may have guilt tripped me into doing it by saying that it was her day off as well. And so here I am with cake batter splattered over my shirt, strutting my stuff to Cotton Eye Joe.

It's safe to say I nailed that dance move.

"Bella." Lily moaned when I continued to dance about the linoleum floor. , "Dad could be awake soon, and I don't want him to know!"

"Oh, stop getting your panties in a twist, Lil', he won't be awake for ages." _I may or may not have switched off his alarm... _

"And you're sure he likes plain vanilla sponge..."

"Yes - nothing too creative and little decorating, 'cause your father is boring as hell."

For the next hour we cleared up the kitchen, waited on the cakes to cook and then cool, before we started to decorate. A shiny white icing spread over the top and glooped down the sides, then with blue icing Lily wrote _"Happy Birthday Dad/Boss."_

It was shortly after eight when Kid and I tip-toed into his room. As thought, Edward was still fast asleep. I tried not to notice the fact that he slept in only pajama pants and how the deep grey silk lay just above the band of said pants. I was offered to stay last night, but seeing as Edward wasn't too fond of the idea of Angus coming along with me, then I had to go for my favorite lil' man. But now, seeing him in that soft, soft silk it made me wish I had reconsidered.

"Dad..." Lily attempted to wake the dead, I cupped my hand around the lone candle and clicked away at the lighter to get a flame. "Dad..."

After a few more callings, Edward finally began to come around. He stretched out his muscles which, when you have a lit candle right next to you, is not something you should watch. This whole fucking house will be up in flames soon enough. Edward had that sudden hit of realization when you can just tell you are late without even looking at the time. "Fuck!" he exclaimed and jumped out of bed, only to stop suddenly when he saw us at the foot of the bed.

"Happy birthday!" We cheered.

Boss checked the time on his wall clock, his eyes grew wide. "_Bella,_ Christ I should have been at work half an hour ago! This is no time for celebrations!" He stormed straight past us, barely looking at the cake or beaming smile that had been on his daughter's face, and shut himself away in the en-suite.

"I'll be right back, Kid." _If he thought he was gonna close that door in my face... Bastards gonna lose his balls._

_But first I might have to play with them... _

_Cheeky._

"Oi, Dickward, mind taking your head out your ass for a minute?" He had swapped the pants for a towel, and it would have been so easy to just slip it out his hand... "You're not going to work today, got it? Relax."

"What? Bella, don't be stupid. Of course I'm going to the office."

"Well I don't know what you're going to do when you get there, seeing as all meetings etc. have been moved to a later date, and your sister is taking over your load. It's your birthday, dude!"

"You planned this with Rosalie?"

"Yes and it was not easy. I actually had to pretend to give a fuck whenever she spoke." That takes a lot of effort.

"And you did all this for me?"

"No, well technically I did, but it was all Lily's idea." He was still standing there in that towel. I wasn't too sure where to look.

"Have you told her about tomorrow?" The following day was Lily's fifteenth birthday. I know he and Lauren didn't exactly plan on having a kid together but you must admit, that's some damn good timing.

"Of course not - that's your surprise. Now I think you should shove some clothes on and then go and see what she's done for you."

Lily had taken a seat on Bossman's bed, she sat patiently with the cake balanced on her lap. There was a faint smell of smoke in the air, then I spotted the candle had been blown out.

"You're not meant to blow them out till tomorrow, Kid."

"I, um... I didn't want the wax to burn all over the icing... So I blew it out..."

"Kid," I said with a smile, "I'm only messing with you."

With Bossman changed into some decent clothing, we relit the candle and started again. We were smart enough to bring a knife up with us, and Edward didn't hesitate to cut out a large slice.

"Thank you, this really is very nice of you."

The moment he bit into the cake, I couldn't help but add: "I spat in it."

0-0

**LILY**

One thing that Bella had failed to mention was the family dinner she had planned for that evening. A family dinner which, obviously, I have to attend, along with my grandparents who I had never met before... I knew the basics that Grandpa owned Dad's business and Grandma helps to organize all the charity events, but I couldn't tell you more than that. I know that Auntie Rose is joining as well, but I don't know who else. According to Bella, Grandma had ordered a high class chef to take over the kitchen and cook everything, which meant I wouldn't have Siobhan there for company, either.

Bella's wise words played throughout my head: '_remember Kid, if you get nervous just imagine them all naked. I do that quite often... well, I imagine your father naked... and get the real thing too.'_

_Oh Christ, that didn't work._

I wasn't sure what to wear either - I hoped that they didn't expect me to wear a ball gown, 'cause I don't own anything like that. But what I did have was a white high-waisted skater skirt with black spots, and matched that to a fitted long-sleeved back tee. I kept my hair down and slipped my feet into my black Converse high tops. I don't wear heels either. I think that is why Bella and I have the close friendship which we have - our likes, dislikes and sense of style are practically identical. I've even picked up on her word choice, except I wouldn't dare say some of the words that she does.

Bella helped me when it came to a present for Dad. She said that he doesn't like receiving gifts, but it had been years since I last got him any sort of gift, and after a bit of time we came up with the perfect present. There's a photo of Dad and I from the last time I saw him - I have a copy hidden in my room at home; Mom doesn't like me having things that remind me of Dad - and Bella assured me that it is one of his favorite possessions, so I bought a frame to slip the photo inside. The frame was plain black with a silver plaque at the bottom which read "_anyone can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a Dad"._

It may have been a bit too sentimental, but it was something I thought Dad would like for when I go back to Seattle.

I didn't want to go back there - not at all. I know my friends aren't here, but I have Bella, Siobhan, Dad... and they have looked after me more than anyone in Seattle looked after me. They made me feel special, listened to me when I spoke and actually included me with things. And what killed me the most is that Mom had no idea I was staying with Dad, she had no idea that I got in contact with him, so it will be that bit harder coming back for visits without a logical lie or excuse.

_Oh well, I still have a few more weeks to go._

So putting that behind me, I took the tissue-wrapped photo frame and went to find Dad. Family were meant to arrive at seven - in half an hours time.

"Dad?" I called as I descended the staircase. "Dad, you down here?"

"Yes?" His voice was faint and seconds later he appeared from his office. I was happy to see that he hadn't dressed up too much for the dinner, he just wore a smarter version of his usual suits.

He looked my outfit up and down, I couldn't tell what he thought. "Is this okay?" It looked smart to me, but perhaps it was casual to them?

"You look beautiful." That was another thing - Mom never said I looked beautiful 'cause I don't wear the clothes that she does. Hearing Dad say it was like... it was greatest thing. I couldn't describe it.

"Oh, thank you..." I stuttered and fiddled with the gift, then passed it over. "I know you don't like gifts but... I wanted to get you something. Um, happy birthday."

With a frown he pulled open the paper to reveal the frame. His eyes widened at the photo which sat inside. "Thank you," he said genuinely, "I mean it, that was very thoughtful of you." Dad awkwardly outstretched his arm and patted my shoulders like he was unsure whether that was allowed. It was definitely allowed.

"It's okay. Bella said you don't have things like this, so I hoped it wasn't too much."

"Absolutely not, Lil'. I, er..." he rubbed his eyes, "I know I didn't do, er, as much as I should have done... throughout the years. But, um, that doesn't mean that I didn't think of you. I thought about you everyday, and I never stopped caring. Never will stop caring."

Tears coated my eyes. I knew what Mom had said was a load of bull - Dad did love me. But why tell me he didn't? As one tear fell, followed closely by another, a strong arm brought me into a warm embrace.

"Why are you crying?" He asked, one hand stroked my arm soothingly.

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what? Crying?"

Dad's care only made me cry harder. I was suddenly thankful that I never put any mascara on. "I don't know." And then I laughed. It was a very strange mix of emotions.

Our little moment broke when the front doorbell chimed to introduce our guests. Even though they were members of my family, fear still ran through me. A memory of meeting Mom's brother (my uncle) began to play - he made me feel two foot tall and when drinks were flowing, Mom told him that I wanted to box and he couldn't stop laughing. He's never addressed me since that night, and I don't know why. The fear that Dad's side of family could do the same is... something I wouldn't ever get over.

"Lil'," I focused on Dad and the two people that stood beside him. _My grandparents. _Grandpa looked incredibly smart in a suit just like Dad's, he had neatly trimmed blonde hair and the warmest smile. I had imagined him to be intimidating, being the owner of a company and all, but I couldn't have been more wrong.

And Grandma was... a lot like me and Dad. She held the same shading in her hair that fell to her shoulders and curled under. She was about a head smaller than Grandpa, but she held herself strong. Dressed in a slimming deep blue dress, Grandma was absolutely stunning.

My other grandparents - Nana and Papa - didn't care for themselves the same way Grandma and Grandpa did. They didn't style their hair, they didn't wear smart clothing, and it was like they accepted the fact they were getting old and couldn't do anything about it.

"Mom, Dad, this is Lily - your granddaughter."

"Oh, Edward, like you need to tell us!" Grandma stepped forward and bent down slightly to be level with me. "It's the greatest pleasure to meet you, Lily." My eyes welled up once again when Grandma wrapped me in a loving hug.

"Don't hog the girl, Es'." Grandpa took Grandma's place, "now why are you crying?" He asked with a smile.

"I, um... I'm just so happy to meet you."

"Like wise, my dear. I can only apologize for taking this long to finally meet you." I could tell he was genuine - it was written in his eyes and smile.

I shrugged it off, "it's not your fault."

"Don't sugar coat it, Lily; it is our fault. But no time like the present, correct?"

"Correct."

"Right! I think champagne is in order!"

Grandma and Grandpa led the way to the kitchen. Dad took my arm which stopped me from following. "Are you okay?" He asked me with concern.

"Yes. I'm sorry for crying again, I couldn't help it."

"Why do you apologize for crying all the time?" _Cause it's a sign of weakness... _

"I just, er, I guess I'm used to apologizing." _I can't seem like a baby in front of Mom and her friends. I'm pretty good at hiding my tears, normally. _

"Listen, Lil', if you need to cry then fuc-_fudging_ cry. Don't be scared to be yourself around me, and I will be here if you need to talk about anything, understand?"

"Yes. Yes, thank you."

"Okay. C'mon, can't leave Grandma waiting."

I liked the difference that I saw in Dad, he wasn't as uptight and formal like `I was used to. Ever since the accident in the boxing ring he had been a lot more caring and had started to act like a real father should. I would like to see this side to him stay.

Auntie Rose and her boyfriend, Emmett, had been caught up somehow (_I didn't want to know...) _and I had felt my phone buzz in my pocket a couple times, so I saw that delay as the perfect time to slip out and check my phone. All three iMessages were from Bella, they said:

**Hope everything is going OK, Sweetpea.**

And:

**If you're scared and can't imagine them naked, imagine Bossdad shaking them hips to Livin' La Vida Loca.**

Then:

**Go Ricky, go Ricky, go Ricky. **

She added the 'fist' emoji at the end of the message which had me laughing silently into my hand. I sent a simple reply back:

**Haha! I will. G&amp;G are lovely! They've made me feel really welcome.**

It was when I walked back to kitchen that my phone buzzed once more.

**Ahh, my new friend Carlisle.**

That time she included an 'OK hand sign' emoji, and my giggles came back in full force.

0-0

I hadn't expected to enjoy the dinner, because I had never eaten 'high-class' food, but I was pleasantly surprised. We had a vegetable-y type soup for starter, a beef dish with really thin potatoes, vegetables and a sweet sauce for main, individual profiterole towers with melted chocolate and toffee sauce - a croque en... something. And after dessert we had a selection of cheeses with lovely fruit decorating the board. I had never eaten so much in my life. We all cheered a _happy birthday _to Dad at the end of the meal, but he rolled his eyes and tried to forget that ever happened.

Auntie Rose, Dad and Grandpa were all talking business, so Emmett took it upon himself to keep me entertained . He was so funny, and such a lovely man! We had competitions to see who could catch the most grapes in their mouth - he won, then he challenged me to an arm wrestling competition. The others had ended their conversation to watch us.

"Be careful, Emmett, Lily is a lot stronger than she looks."

"Ha! Ed', you think that scrawny wee thing can beat me?" He flexed his enormous muscles and winked at me. "You're gonna lose, Lil'."

"You are going down, big man." My faux threat had everyone at the table laughing. We both rubbed our palms together and loosened up for the wrestle. We both put out our right arms. It was like comparing a twig to the entire tree.

I knew Emmett didn't use all his strength, but I sure did. It got to the point where I was struggling to hold on when Auntie Rose was suddenly seen leaning slowly over to Emmett and a quick tickle under his arm had Emmett lose concentration and I slammed his hand down to the table.

"Ha!" I cheered, "who is the 'scrawny wee thing' now, huh?"

0-0

Before everyone left, Grandma called the room to attention. She had a white envelope in her hands.

"As we all know, tomorrow is our Lily's birthday," _she said 'our'...I am accepted as a member of the family. _"Carlisle and I thought very hard over the perfect present, and we think we came pretty close." She handed me the envelope. "We both would love it if you opened that now; when we are all here."

I looked briefly at my audience and every one were eagerly waiting on me to open the present. I tore it open to reveal a folded piece of paper. Through the paper I saw the well-knowns 'A's of American Airlines. I read the information with one hand cupped over my mouth. I couldn't believe what I read.

"Thank you..." I sobbed and jumped off the couch to hug my grandparents. "This is far too much, but thank you."

"It is nothing compared to what you are worth, Lily." Grandma had said.

"It is the least we could do." Said Grandpa.

"What is it?" Dad asked, clearly confused over the whole scenario.

"Look!" I squealed, shaking the paper in Dad's face. "A yearly flight pass from here to Seattle!" _I could jump on a plane whenever I want..._

Dad was truly shocked, "holy shit. Mom, Dad... thank you. Seriously, thank you."

"I can come whenever I want, Dad!" The shock of it all had made me crazy. I fell into Dad's arms, and he squeezed me back just as tight.

"You were always welcome, Lil."

"Yes, but now I don't have to save up! This is the best gift I have ever received." It was already the best birthday, and the day hadn't even started.

0-0

The next morning, I had expected Dad to be at work and would have happily waited until the evening to celebrate my fifteenth, but when I walked into the kitchen for breakfast I was completely blown away. Siobhan, Dad and Bella were standing around the island with a small selection of presents laid out and two balloons bobbed behind them - a number 1 and a number 5.

"Happy birthday!" They all sang.

"Thank you." I was almost certain I was dreaming; I'd wake up soon and realize that last night didn't happen, and neither did this morning. But it wasn't a dream; it was all completely real.

Siobhan made me the biggest batch of blueberry pancakes which I ate as I opened the presents. I received a new jacket, other items of clothes, a new purse, a case for my iPhone, and from Dad and Bella I got the best present - a pair of professional boxing shoes and some black boxing gloves. On further inspection I saw the word "_Rocket" _sewn in white on the cuffs.

"Can we use these today?" I questioned excitedly.

"We could... but there is one more surprise."

_Another surprise? I don't think I could take much more. _

"Once you have finished those pancakes you need to go upstairs and dress in something comfortable. And put your sneakers on."

"My sneakers?"

"Yes," Bella tore the corner off my pancake and folded it into her mouth. "Fancy coming to Philly for the day?"

"Philly? As in, Philadelphia?"

Dad tapped Bella's hand when she reached for more of my breakfast. "What is in Philly that every boxer needs to visit? It involves a lot of running."

"And fist pumps." Bella added.

I knew exactly what they meant, and I couldn't have been more excited. "I'd love to."

"Go get ready then, Kid." I allowed Bella to finish the pancakes so I could run back to my room.

I viewed my cell phone as I got ready. No doubt Mom would phone me at some point, and if she phoned whilst I was in Philly, there's a chance the cat could be let out the bag. But if I phoned her now, when I was on my own, she'd be none the wiser. I reckoned I had a spare five minutes in which to make a call.

_"Hello?"_

It sounded strange to hear Mom's voice as not hearing for almost two months. "Hey Mom."

_"Lillian! I was wondering when you were going to call." _Once again I was made to seem like the bad guy, even when it was just as easy for her to do the calling.

"Sorry Mom, I've been really busy. How was the honeymoon?"

_"Oh, baby, it was incredible! It felt amazing to get away, y'know?" _Yes, I bet leaving me was a breeze.

"That's good..." She still hadn't mentioned anything about my birthday, so, as much as I wanted to keep it quiet, I used Philly to get a reaction. "Well I can't talk for long; I'm going to Philadelphia today with... friends."

_"Oh, Lillian!" _She scolded_. "How dare you use my precious money to go on silly little trips? I hope you plan on paying me back for that."_

"It wasn't your money, my friends paid for it as a birthday treat."

_"Fuck... Lily I..." _She had forgotten. Her only child's birthday and she forgot about it. That whole phone call was a mistake, and it showed me exactly what I already knew.

"Just leave it, Mom. See you later."

I thought phoning Mom would have been a good idea, but turned out to be the worst. At least I had the trip with Dad and Bella to keep me distracted.

It was only a shame they couldn't distract me forever.

0-0

**Some seriously touching moments in that one. My poor Lily. **

**Philly trip in the next one, and we'll get some answers from Brody soon… ;)**

**In case you didn't already know, I have a new story up! Behind the Bars - Jailward, Mommyella, and a cute ass kid named Noah. **

**Till the next one… thoughts?**


	15. Rocky Balboa

Sorry for the wee wait there, I had an unplanned sick leave :)

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN.**

**BELLA.**

Our plane was booked to take off at ten-thirty, so we arrived on the runway shortly after ten. Edward and I had been on this plane thousands of times before and it had taken us to various functions all over the country, but for Lily it was a first-time deal and her eyes looked bigger than her damn head.

"Is this yours Dad?"

"It's the companies plane, but we're borrowing it for the day." I was under the impression that Lily hadn't been on a plane much in her life, so a commercial flight could be very intimidating but this was a whole other ball game. It was your standard private jet in shiny white, inside was made up of cream and grey leather booths; each booth held two leather seats, a couch and a small brown table for working with warm lighting settled into the walls. At the back of the jet you had a room which held a double bed with cream and brown spread over top, and a separate restroom.

The bedroom was only for long-haul flights of course...y'know, in case you get tired... _*cough*._

"Good morning Mr. Cullen, Miss Swan."

"Good morning, Peter." Edward nodded firmly at Peter, our flight attendant for today. "This is my daughter, Lily."

"Pleasure to meet you, Miss Cullen."

"Thank you..." Lily blushed, unsure of how to act after being called Cullen for once instead of Mallory. The fact that Edward hadn't corrected the slip-up did not go unnoticed by myself and Lily.

Peter took the little baggage we had and welcomed us inside. _"Oh my goodness, oh my goodness." _Lily whispered as she took in every detail. "This isn't real."

I smirked at her cuteness, "it is pretty real."

"Stuff like this just doesn't happen."

Edward appeared behind us with his suit jacket flopped over one arm. "It does in my world," he grinned, "get used to it, Kid."

The flight took no longer than an hour, so we settled down in a booth and relaxed for the duration of the journey. Both father and daughter were stuck into their iPhone/Pods and had left me to twiddle my thumbs, after ten minutes I was about to go mad and smack a bitch (or smack a boss), and so I broke the anti-social behavior with some fun journey entertainment.

"I'm thinking of something blue..."

Lily looked up first, followed closely by Bossman. "What?" She asked.

"I'm thinking of something blue." From their expressions I could see they didn't understand. Accompanied by a roll of my eyes, I added "you need to guess what I'm describing."

"Something blue..." Lily copied as she searched the plane.

"And it's not your balls, Edward."

_"Oh, please! _That's my Dad!" I gave her a shrug. _She'll get used to it. _"The sky." Lily finally answered.

"Yes!"

"Bella, that was shit."

"Go on then Bossman, you do better."

"How about we play Twenty Questions?" Kid offered pulling her feet up onto the couch. "I'll go first...um... Dad, if you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?"

I wanted to add that he _could _go anywhere in the world, but I stayed quiet. Surprisingly Edward put his phone away to pay attention to the game.

"I've always wanted to visit China - see the Great Wall and it's history."

"Nice. Okay, your turn!"

"If you didn't box, what would you like to do instead, Lil'? As a future career or something."

"Um... I'd probably be a nurse, or a vet - someone that assists with health care in some way."

_And I thought that kid couldn't get any fucking cuter._

It was my turn to think of a question, and because I'm boring and lazy I went for the easiest one. "What is your favorite movie, Kid?"

"Oh that's easy!" She flapped her hand in my direction. "'Fly Away Home'; the movie about geese?" Boss and I both shook our head to say we didn't know the movie. "Oh, you guys need to watch it! Bella, what's yours?"

I had to think of a moment before I was certain. "'The Breakfast Club'. Hands down."

"Who are you? The Basket Case?" Edward grinned up from his phone.

I flicked some loose hair over my shoulder and pouted, "I'm The Princess. Obviously... _John Bender._"

"Are you calling me a criminal?"

"Well Bender didn't play the fucking Brain, did he?"

"I have no idea what you guys are on about." I caught the roll of Lily's eye as she went back to her iPod.

"Educate yourself, Kid; you need John Hughes in your life."

0-0

With the time nearing midday the streets of Philly were slowly filling up with workers on their lunch break and tourists traveling from A to B. I'd never been there before and didn't know what to expect but to see the sky scrapers that tower over the city, just like Manhattan, was a pleasant surprise. We became part of the crowd as we strolled, without direction, down the streets.

"Where would you like to go?" Edward began, "we have a lunch reservation for two o'clock, but apart from that you make the rules, Kid."

"A lunch reservation? Where?" He'd never told me about any reservations. With a smirk, Edward brushed the side of his nose to say it was for him to know and us to find out.

"Um... at some point I'd like to see the Liberty Bell, and the Bill of Rights... if that's alright? I don't want to force you guys to do anything if there's something else you'd much rather do."

_Kid, please, I cannot take much more of the cuteness._

My ovaries were close to exploding when Edward dropped down slightly and stared at Lily lovingly with one hand on each shoulder. _Oh God, help me. _"How do you usually spend your birthday?"

"Um..." She looked back and forth between her father and I with the corner of her bottom lips caught between her teeth. She was scared to answer, or nervous for whatever reason.

"You can tell us, Lily." I did my best to offer some support.

"I don't... really do anything."

That didn't come as much of a surprise, but it angered Edward either way. "You don't do anything?" He repeated, "why the hell not?"

Her eyes grew wide again, but this time it was not out of happiness. A tiny shrug matched the wide eyes, "parties can be expensive... and Mom's always busy."

Edward rose stiffly whilst pulling on the collar of his shirt. "Get that noted." He whispered to me harshly, I made a quick note on my iPhone to tell Brody when I next saw him.

"Let me make one thing clear to you, Lillian." _Oh fuck, Bossman had turned formal. _"Today money is no object and we will do whatever you want. It doesn't matter what Bella and I would rather do."

"O-okay then... in that case why don't we do the art museum first? Can't run up those steps after a big lunch!"

Edward agreed without hesitating and whistled for a cab to take us to the museum.

_"Boss!" _I gasped and grabbed his bicep. "You're not getting a cab, are you?" I said sarcastically. "Like... like a _normal person?"_

My little joke resulted in a quick swat to my face and a silent laugh, "get in the cab, Bella."

All three of us squeezed into the back seats and even though he never said it, I knew from looking at his face that Edward wanted to get straight back out again. There was a pungent smell wafting the small enclosure, and I was certain it came from the driver and dangerous-looking circles that had soaked onto his polo shirt. However, to the other side of me, Lily had her head out the open window like a happy puppy - minus the flapping ears and tongue. She took in every building we passed and a whole new city she'd yet to discover.

Stopping at the museum a number of people were seen sitting on or walking up the famous steps.

"You joining us, Bella?" Lily pointed straight ahead at the steps. "Dad and I are running up."

That was the funniest fucking thing I had ever heard in my life. Am I going to run? Are pigs going to fly at the same time? "Have you seen me?"

"What?"

"The only exercise Bella does is finger exercise - when she phones for a take-out." Edward butted in.

"Excuse me I do more than that... I walk to the door to collect the food too."

"Oooh," he patted my shoulder, "you must break a sweat."

"I do, it's horrible." I muttered with a straight face, but I soon cracked when the others began to laugh. "Oh fuck, right go and run kids."

From a bag Edward produced a pair of Nike sneakers and toed off the black Dior's that were currently on his feet. With the suit and Nikes he reminded me of Forrest Gump, which caused the biggest laughing fit to escape me.

_I think I peed a little._

_Just call me Jenny._

_Jenny and me was like peas and carrots._

"Are you okay?" Through my tears I saw the concerned faces of father and daughter.

"Yeah, I... _oh Jesus... _I'm good, I'm good. Go and run, Mr. Gump." They chose to ignore my choice of words (which was probably the best idea) and prepped themselves for the run.

"Ready to lose, old man?"

Edward turned his head to look at his kid, "you are spending far too much time with that strange one," he thumbed to me over his shoulder, "but I'll let it slide for now."

"Three... two... one, go!"

The pair were off in great speed. I walked behind them, but they had cleared the first two sets before I was up one. A few passers-by stopped to watch the race. As they ran, I imagined the theme tune playing loudly with its booming bass and sweaty Sylvester catching up behind them.

Lily made it to the top, a step before Edward, but I had an inkling he planned that. She celebrated Rocky-style by jumping about and pounding her fists in the air. I felt as though my heart was about to give out, my lungs burned and my legs left like jell-o.

"_How the fuck...did he... do that?" _I wheezed as I made the top.

"But you walked, Bella!"

"I told you... I don't do exercise." After a few minutes my breathing and heart rate were back to normal so I could properly appreciate the surrounding view. Lily passed me her iPhone so I could take some pictures. One of her standing on the engraved footprints, one of Lily and Edward with their backs to me and fists held high, another of her and Edward smiling at the camera and the last being me and her, I had one arm loosely around her neck - she was in mid-laugh as I grinned.

_"Oh, my goodness, I need to put these on Facebook." _Lily squealed and tapped away on the phone screen.

0-0

Arriving outside Vetris restaurant I couldn't quite believe it. I asked Edward how he bagged us a table, seeing as I thought reservations were made weeks in advance, but he shrugged off my question and motioned for us to enter. The place was painted in cream and brown colors with low lighting to add a warm feeling.

Once we had placed our orders and the drinks had been brought over Edward dug into his jacket pocket and pulled out a white square box and slid it over the table to Lily. "I have one last present." I gasped at him, unaware of this sudden gift he had purchased and Lily was lost for words.

"But you've already spent so much on this trip. Dad, I can't..."

"Remember what I said, about money not being an object? Go on - you deserve it."

With shaky hands she pulled up the lid, almost instantly one hand covered her mouth and tears coated her green eyes. When she brought the gift out of the box I saw it was a Pandora bracelet with two charms hanging from it. On closer inspection I saw that one was the letter 'L' made of tiny diamonds, and the other was a silver boxing glove with incredible detail including the the strain of leather and the loops of tied strings.

"Thank you Daddy." She ran around the table to hug her father - he eagerly accepted the embrace. "_I love you, Dad." _Her words were barely audible.

Now, I'm not a crying sort of person but even I felt the trickle of a tear as it fell passed my cheek.

"I love you too, Lil'. I always have."

_Oh holy shit, please stop._

When Lily walked back to her seat, I slipped my hand into Edward's and kissed his cheek sweetly. "You're cute sometimes, y'know?"

0-0

The plane was booked for 6:45, which gave us just under two hours to complete the last things on Lily's to-do list before catching a ride back to the airport. Peter welcomed us back with the same warm smile and hoped we all had had a wonderful day. Five minutes into the flight I felt my eyes start to close; it had been an excellent day, but a damn long one. The seats of the booth were comfy, don't get me wrong, but I couldn't get as comfortable as I had wanted. So with a quick _"I'll be through here" _I snuck off down the aisle to the closed-off bedroom. Within minutes I was cuddled together on the soft cover with my eyes finally closing.

I couldn't say how much time had passed, but before I knew it I was being awakened by a pair of traveling hands. They ran up my sides, where they stopped, and a warm breath tickled the flesh of my neck.

"Woah," I sat up in a start, my 'attacker' was startled also. "What the fuck are you doing?"

He gave me a confused look, "I'm fulfilling your wish - is that not obvious?" His mouth went back to leave a tingling trail in it's path.

"What wish? Boss, what the hell are you on about?"

_Actually... keep going, that feels damn good._

"You came into the bedroom! You can't say that wasn't a subtle invitation."

Well I guess he had a point, but I honestly wanted a nice place to sleep.

However, since he was there, why not take advantage?

Our bodies came together in the form of hot kisses, wandering hands, and sensual touches. His fingers played with the waist band of my leggings. "Mile high club, Boss?" My words were cut off by his dangerous lips, "I didn't think you had it in ya."

"There's a lot about me that you don't know." He whispered hungrily. "Now, shall we?"

With some skillful maneuvering he had my leggings and panties down without interrupting anything. There was no playing around - this had to be quick, before anyone realized what was going on.

_Oh, because they don't already know. Fucking idiot, Bella. _

In one swift movement he clenched my ass as I stared into his greedy eyes, I was pulled down the bed as I felt the effect it had on him.

_Oh hey there big boy!_

_Sorry, must pay attention. _

I sensed the heat rush through me as he filled me with his throbbing cock, I could feel the orgasm rising inside me almost instantly. I scraped my nails down his back as I held back my scream, it must have been too much for poor Bossman to bear as he let out a muffled groan and collapsed onto me.

As we left the room with sly grins on our faces I thought to myself..._I just had my own personal experience with Rocky._

0-0

**Well... that took a different turn! A quick thanks goes out to my own EL James for helping me write that ;)**

**Thoughts? Perhaps a favourite scene?**

**x**


	16. Wicked Witch of the West

**A warning goes with this chapter. I cried, so tissues are advised.**

**CHAPTER SIXTEEN.**

After much persuasion, Angela finely convinced me to get Spotify for my office computer. I had it on my iPhone and fucking abused the hell out of that app, but I knew that if I got it for the office I'd never get any work done and it would be a 12 hour dance party, just like it is at home. Angus and I drop some crazy moves in that house. But over lunch one day she had said that it helped her de-stress and Princess Cullen allowed her to play music as long as it wasn't inappropriate or too loud. The only problem is that her taste in music is a little different than mine. Which is why Bossman walked into the office one morning to hear Nicki Minaj singing her shit all around the room and me trying my best to copy her fast pace.

"..._He a motherfucking trip, trip, sailor of the ship, ship. When he make it drip, drip, kiss him on the lip, lip. That's the kinda dude I was lookin' for, and yes you'll get slapped if you're lookin' hoe..."_

"Excuse me?" Bossman asked with clear confusion and concern.

_"...you're a hell of a guy. I mean my, my, my, my, you're like pelican fly."_

"Bella!"

"What?"

Boss smirked as he perched his perfect ass on the edge of my desk. "I'd rather have someone scratch their nails down a chalkboard then hear that shit. I am not allowing any sort of hip-hop to be played in my office."

I swatted his knee with my hand, "aw, come on, Ed! It's not that bad. You can't say you didn't enjoy a bit of Missy Elliott back in the day? Or the legendary, Salt-N-Pepa?" I could just imagine a teenage Edward, dressed in some 80's fucking Letterman jacket, cutting some mean shapes to Push It. _"PUSH IT REAL GOOD!" _I sang loudly and out of tune to his back as he left me to my fun.

I think I could be Missy Elliot. I mean. I can't rap. Or sing... or dance... but I could speak the words pretty fluently. In fact, screw that - I'll be Katy Perry.

_I can do the best fucking plastic bag impression._

An artist appeared on the playlist which had me stop for a second and made me tempted to call Edward through just so he could share this magical moment with me. The name was DJ Jazzy Jeff and there is only one song that needed to be played.

"_...Chillin' out maxin' relaxin' all cool, and all shootin' some b-ball outside of the school... I got in one little fight and my mom got scared, she said 'you're movin' with you auntie and uncle in Bel-Air..."_

My childhood, ladies and gentleman.

_"Bella?" _His voice rose from the speaker, I instantly muted the music.

"Yes?"

_"I'm not going to tell you again to turn that noise down."_

"I can't recall you telling me to turn it down in the first place."

_"Bella..."_

Oops, I may have stepped over the line slightly. "Sorry, Boss. But you can't say no to the Fresh Prince."

_"I'm not saying no to that, but your singing is a different matter."_

_Er, Bossman say what? _"Excuse me I can rip a solo."

His laugh followed through the speakers, _"a solo? B, the only thing you can rip is a fart."_

"And I own that shit when I do. Loud and proud, baby!"

It wasn't surprising that he never replied to my comment, we were both busy and had to get things ready before Brody Sharpe came back that afternoon. According to him he had rustled up quite the bit of information regarding Lauren and her elderly fuck buddy. Hopefully it was enough to convince the judges when Edward took her to court. Thankfully Lily is fifteen, so she is almost old enough to chose were she lived without the permission from either parent. She didn't know that we had hired Brody to sneak into her mother's private life, but Edward and I were certain this is what she wants - to live here with us. Should we have told her? I couldn't decide. What if nothing happens and the idea falls flat - it could break her little heart, just like it would break ours.

Brody arrived around midday with the same folder that we had given him at the beginning, however it looked fuller than it had been.

"Good morning, Miss Swan," he held out a hand which I shook, "how have you been?" He passed me a smile which, had I not been involved with the man next door, I definitely would have fallen for. Edward and I had not put a label on whatever we were doing, but that didn't mean I would sleep with anyone who came along.

"I'm very well, thank you. How are you?"

Brody nodded, "I'm good," then took the seat in front of my desk. "Is Mr. Cullen around?"

"Yes," I flattened out my skirt as I sat down, "but he is taking an important phone call right now, so he will join us once we are done."

Brody mentioned that he didn't want to say anything until Edward had joined us, so for the next ten minutes we shared a basic conversation and caught up on the recent events. He obviously heard the faint sound of Bon Iver playing from my speakers. Loud enough to add sound to the room, but not too loud to become a distraction.

"I wouldn't have picked you as a Iver fan." Brody pondered.

I felt like saying that he didn't actually know me, so how the hell would he know my likes and dislikes, but I acted professional and faked a laugh. "I like his music, but I'm more of a 90's kid."

"Aah, you're my kinda girl, Bella. So, Backstreet Boys or *NSYNC?"

_Er, neither? _

"It was Spice Girls all the way for me, but to be honest anything with a catchy beat is a winner."

"Really? Spice Girls?"

_There's the door, get out. _

_Just leave._

"So, spill the beans, Sharpe - how bad is your taste in music?" _I mean, if you don't like Spice Girls there is no hope for you, son. _

Luckily, for his sake, Edward made his entrance before Brody could reply. Just like last time, both men had a _'who's bigger' _contest and then took a seat. Honestly they are just like fucking dogs. I'm surprised Edward didn't cock his leg and piss all over me to claim his territory. The interesting image of each smelling the other's ass came into my head, but I managed to hold back the laughter... just.

The atmosphere grew tense when we got down to business and Brody opened his file.

"I have found some things you will be interested to see, Mr. Cullen." He proceeded to open a formal-looking notebook and thumbed to a page that had been covered in brief notes and abbreviations. From the angle that I sat at I couldn't make much sense of them, but I spotted the name 'Lillian', 'Mallory-Yorkie' and 'Mr. Cullen', that was all.

"Your main concern was the disappearance of money, correct?"

"My main concern is my daughter, Mr. Sharpe." I had to roll my eyes at his childish behavior - _he's doing us a favor, Boss._

"Of course, let me word that differently... one of the main things you wanted me to research was the disappearance of money, well I managed to get my hands on bank statements which helps our case."

He slid us the paper for Edward and I both to glance at, with the tip of a pen Brody pin-pointed certain aspects of it.

"On March first you can clearly see a deposit of fifteen-hundred was paid into her account from you, Mr. Cullen. That then boosted this accounts total up to twenty-seven-hundred."

"This account," I copied his words, "how many has she got?" From the corner of my eye I spotted the sly smile from Edward, he was proud of me for noticing that.

"She has three - one I can show you in a second. The other I believe she shares with Mr. Yorkie."

"_You believe_? You cannot tell us for certain? How is that any help?"

"Mr. Cullen my research is not over; this is what I have found so far." With a quick clear of his throat, Brody went back to the statement, "now the only action that occurs is she withdrew six-hundred dollars here on March third and nothing else. Again the same thing happens - fifteen-hundred deposited on April first, then six-hundred taken out on April third. This happens every month - same day, same amount. That brings me to the second account."

Another piece of paper slid over for us to see, this had a lot more transactions than the other. "It is clear that Mrs. Mallory-Yorkie uses this account to pay for monthly bills and to withdraw small amounts of cash every so often. Her work payments all go into this account, apart from the six-hundred dollars appearing every month it is almost like the other card does not exist."

_Wait... in English, please? _

I frowned and rubbed my forehead, "what do mean? Like she's trying to hide it?"

"Well we know it's not a secret account, but my guess is she is trying to keep it a secret from someone in particular._"_

"Lillian." Edward answered without missing a beat.

Brody smirked, "exactly."

"Okay, okay," I straightened up and looked between both men. "If that is correct we can understand why Lily thought her mom was poor etc, because she didn't know this money existed. But what I don't understand is why Lauren would take half the money, and not all of it? If she isn't going to use it on Lily why leave half of it in there?"

Edward held the second bank statement up for closer inspection. "There is no sign of debt or money struggle - she has no need for my money!"

"Holy fuck!" I swore after catching a glimpse of the current balance (eleven-thousand), "that bitch has more than me!" _And she can't hold a simple birthday party for her only child? I wanna shove my worn out Converse up her snooty ass. _

"I smell something fishy here," and it wasn't the tuna fish sandwich I'm waiting to eat for lunch.

"That bitch is messing about with my daughter and my money and I will not stand for this." _Ooft, my poor poor ovaries._ "Have you found anything else?"

"This is all we have for now, but it has given you great evidence to use against her."

Apparently that was not the answer Bossman was after, "this is all you have? Mind getting off your ass and working harder? _Fucks sake."_

With one hand I patted his clenched fist, "it has only been a week, Edward; give him time." I then turned to Brody to apologize for that childish behavior. "We really appreciate everything you are doing." I added.

"You're welcome. Mr. Cullen, I am sorry there isn't more evidence to show for now, but as soon as I get more I will certainly inform you."

0-0

Fast forward a few days and our work load had shrunk majorly. So much so that we found a spare forty-five minutes in the afternoon to stop for lunch and relax. I don't know what it is about the summer months, but every man and his fucking dog wanted to move house between that season, which means a hefty amount of work to be completed. Bossman and I would arrive at seven o'clock in the morning, work through all breaks, and then leave twelve hours later, only to have the phone ring and email alerts _ping _when you got home. So it's no damn wonder I changed straight into my comfiest clothing, grabbed Angus from wherever he lay and stuffed my face with take-out before succumbing to sleep shortly before eleven. I drank my body weight in coffee and ate food which would make any hygienist squirm. If I wanted diabetes, I was headed in the right direction.

_"Fuck me, I'm exhausted." _I spoke through a large yawn and nestled against Bossman's warm chest. I forwent lunch with Angela to enjoy the quiet moment. Edward had rolled back from his desk to allow me the space on his lap. Since our trip to Philly we had grown a lot closer, from the start of our strange relationship he had offered me affectionate touches and light kisses during work, but now it felt different - in a good way. It didn't feel like friends with benefits anymore; it felt like the start of something with a meaning and purpose.

_I dunno, maybe I'm just being a sappy bitch._

"Why don't you take tomorrow off?" He offered, soothing my hair with a delicate stroke of his hand. Normally I would take him up on that offer straight away without a second thought, but I couldn't leave him to deal with everything on his own.

"I'll wait until things have quietened down and then I might put a vacation request in." Renee was still pestering me to either come and visit, or her fly over for a few days, I guess I should arrange something with her.

"Absolutely, you need to take mo-." His words were cut off by the ringing of his personal phone. "Edward Cullen." He answered formerly. I sat back to watch his face and saw his expression change from carefree to anger in an instant. "What the hell do you mean?" He demanded and bounced his knees to silently tell me to get off. Edward stood and passed me without a glance, one hand clutched into his hair, the other balled at a fist by his side. His stern form faced the giant window which over-looked the busy street below. "Do not let her go anywhere." Were his final words before hanging up.

"Who was that?"

Edward ignored me and gathered bits and pieces from the desk, then slipped his suit jacket back on. "Get Rosalie on the phone and tell her we're leaving early."

"We're leaving early? Why?"

"Just fucking do as I say, Isabella!"

I automatically took a step back in response to his sharp words. Not even two minutes before we were as happy as Larry and floating on cloud nine, and now this! I couldn't make head or tail of it. Seemingly my delay only angered him more.

"Will you hurry up and go?!"

Like a rabbit in head lights I scurried out his office and called down to Rosalie - the call was transferred through to Angela.

"Ang', it's me."

_"Oh hey, B! What can I do for you, babe?"_

"Bossman wanted me to tell Princess that we need to leave early, so she'll need to juggle both departments." I began to close down my computer as I spoke.

_"She's gonna love that," _Angela replied sarcastically, _"what do you need to leave for?"_

"I don't know, but any minute now the fucking Incredible Hulk is going to drag me away."

_"Oooh! Maybe he's taking you to his playroom." _I could just imagine the seductive face she'd have been pulling.

"I doubt it. Head out the gutter you dirty slut." Edward stormed from his office and slammed the door loudly behind me. It was surprising that the glass didn't shatter from the force.

_"Holy shit, was that him?" _

"Yep. Look, as you can tell I've gotta go. Just pass the message on to Princess Cullen please."

_"Will do, Bell. Gimme a call later."_

With a brief response I hung up the phone, grabbed my things and ran after Edward who hadn't even bothered to wait on me. The elevator seemed to take hours to return. For the couple minutes that I was alone in the elevator my mind ran wild with thoughts and theories. _What could have happened? Who was on the phone? _It was someone personal, or else they would have called through to the office, so was something wrong at home?

_Fuck._

_Lily. Is she okay?_

I had hoped that, even though Edward left the office before me, that he could have at least had the curtesy to ask his driver to wait. But no - Bossman was long gone, which meant I had to jump into my car and spend the duration of the journey to Bossman Manor with the same uneasy feeling eating away at my tired body. I didn't even know if he was going home, I just assumed so.

I have to give credit to my father for making me play Wacky Races as a child for my incredible skill at dodging various vehicles and just making the green lights. If it wasn't for that, there is no way I would have caught up with Bossman as he drove through the gates of his manor.

Three people were spotted standing in front of the house. Two were some of Edward's 'bodyguards', dressed in their smart suits and with muscles like Hulk Hogan. The other was a petite woman whom I'd never met before. Her hair was pulled back from her face, and she stood with one hand hooked on her side like she was thoroughly pissed at something, or someone.

A sickening feeling filled my body; my blood ran cold. I may have never met the lady before, but it didn't take a genius to work out who she was, why she was here, and why Edward had reacted the way he did.

My theories were correct and were made so when Lauren shoved past Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee and ran up to Edward. "Where is my daughter?" She spat. Tweedle Dum (or, maybe it was Dee) went to pull her back, but Edward put out a hand which halted him.

_"Your _daughter? I'll have you know that Lily is mine as much as she is yours."

_Damn you're hot when you're angry, Bossman._

"Don't you dare act like you care for her now, after all these years!"

Edward stepped forward to fight back somehow, but I got there first. With one hand on him and one on her (remind me to scrub my hands later) I pushed both back. "The front yard is not the place for this. Inside, now!"

Lauren had a face like she smelt a bad fart, her eyes looked me up and down, "and who the hell are you?"

_Fuck you, bitch._

"It doesn't matter who I am - get inside!" I shot out an arm and pointed straight for a house like I was disciplining my children and not two adults. Of course anyone inside Bossman Manor could not have missed the dispute going on outside, so I wasn't too surprised to see Lily hovering by the stairs like a scared little kitten.

"Mom?" She sounded as though she was about to break down in tears.

"Lillian pack your bags - we're leaving."

"What?" Lily whimpered.

Edward spoke at the same time, "now hold on a minute!" As angry as Edward was I could see the fear seep through. The fear of losing Lily sooner than we both thought.

"No! Up until now I was under the impression that she was taking part in some silly boxing club. Had I known she was living under your roof, there was no way I would have allowed her to come here."

_Who's she? The cat's mother? Lily has a name, y'know._

"Mom, please... I don't want to go." I was torn between comforting Lily and sticking up for Edward. I chose the one who needed me most - Lily.

"Calm down," I whispered and rubbed her arm comfortingly, "everything will be okay."

"You don't have an option, Lillian. Pack your bags."

It was all too much for the poor girl who broke down in tears with only my arms to hold her together.

Edward and I shared a silent conversation - I'd care for Lily, whilst he dealt with her deranged mother.

"You cannot walk into my house and order her about like that."

"As her mother I have every right to order her about."

"And as her _father _I have just the same!"

_Oh, come on, Boss! Put a bit more into it than that!_

"Father?" Lauren laughed, "you are nothing but a _sperm donor. _What have you done, huh? Pay a bit of money every month? Wow, really father of the year."

Edward rubbed his hand together roughly. "We all know what happened, and maybe if you had let me get in contact with Lily this would not be happening."

Lauren put her hands up to it all, "I don't have time for this. I could phone the police right now and say you have been holding my daughter without my knowledge, and I don't think you want that to happen, do you Edward?"

"I'm sorry, did I miss the day you were given sole custody of Lily?"

"You've missed quite a few days, remember?" Lauren turned and took a couple steps towards Lily and I. Her rotten stench reached us before she did. "If you ever want to see this man again, you will do as I say."

The short fuse in me broke, "excuse me," I stepped to the side so that Lily could stand a short bit behind me, "you better start treating this perfect little girl with some sort of respect, got it?"

"And you are...?"

"Your worst fucking nightmare, love."

"I want to stay here. I want to stay with Dad and Bella." It sounded as though Lily had grown herself a backbone, but the wobble in her words was still clear.

"You don't have a choice, Lillian. Perhaps next time you won't lie to me about where you are. Now, go!"

With a whimper Lily turned and ran up the stairs. Lauren shot Edward and I a smug smile and added a simple, "I'll be waiting outside."

_Why I oughta... _

Once the door had closed behind her, I gave all my support to the man who needed my help more than he cared to admit.

"Edward..." I held his face in my hands and begged him to look at me, but he refused to look anywhere but the floor.

"Just... don't, Bella."

"We'll sort this out, I promise."

"I can't lose her; not again." He looked up at me with red-rimmed, bloodshot eyes.

"You won't. That's why we have Brody, remember? Wicked Witch of fucking West won't get away with this."

Edward's head shook, "go be with Lily - make sure she's okay."

I frowned slightly, "and what about you?"

After a small delay, he only repeated his previous words; "go be with Lily."

The poor kid was doing exactly as her mother told her - she was shoving everything she owned into the small suitcase. Loud sniffles was all I heard.

"Hey," I clamped onto her hands to stop the movement, "hey, stop."

Her face was bright red, a steady stream of tears poured down her blushed cheeks, her whole body jerked from the crying even when I held her close. "I'm so sorry, Bella, it's all my fault."

"It's not your fault."

"It is!" She pulled back roughly, her arms swung roughly. "I should never have put those pictures on Facebook! I wasn't thinking! That's why she's here - because she saw them."

"Look she would have found out somehow, don't blame yourself."

"But there is nobody else to blame." Her voice was thick with emotion.

I shrugged, all whilst my heart broke for this kid. "To be honest, I'm not completely innocent myself. I was told to find a hotel for you to stay at, but I brought you here instead."

"She's never going to let me see Dad again..."

As much as we didn't want her to know about Brody there was no-way I could not allow Lily to walk out this house without some sort of hope in her heart. "I need to tell you something, but you need to promise me that you won't tell anyone."

Lily blinked away a few tears, "what is it?"

I lowered my voice for my next words, "your dad is going to take her to court," her eyes grew wide, "he is going to fight so that you can stay with us, instead of your mom."

"But... Really?"

"Absolutely. However, as you know, things might not go as planned, so you need to prepare yourself for that, okay?"

"Yes... yes, okay."

I smiled as my own damn tears were felt. "It's going to be hard, but we'll see you soon, Kid."

Together we finished packing her bags and made sure she had everything before facing the nightmare waiting for us downstairs.

"Thank you for everything, Bella." She whispered as I gave her a final hug before she left. "Look after my Dad for me."

"Someone's gotta wipe his ass for him, Lil'."

My heart just about broke when Edward pulled her in for the biggest hug I had ever seen him give anyone. Lily's sniffles returned in full force. "Remember everything I taught you..."

"I will. I'm sorry, Dad."

"Don't be sorry, just remember that I love you and you can phone me whenever you want."

"I love you too."

Neither wanted to let go of the other, but when Lauren made her ugly entrance once again, their time was up. Edward did his best to keep it together, but we all saw past his tough exterior.

I hadn't realized Siobhan was around until I saw her standing out front with the Tweedle twins. I was glad she got to say goodbye to Lily; it would have broken Momma Bear's heart had she not. At some point Lauren had driven her car up to the front of the house, the engine was running and doors were open.

_Bitch can't get away fast enough._

There wasn't a dry eye in sight when they drove away. Edward didn't wait around for the car to completely disappear from sight. I went to follow him. He stormed into his study - he wanted to be alone.

"Edward..."

I was met with the slamming of a door and the loud sobs coming from a broken man.

0-0

**All I ask is for you to trust me, and remember that this is a work of fiction - in real life things would have been sorted out differently.**

**Um... thoughts? And I'm sorry?**


	17. Tuckahoe

Mixed comments for that last chapter, but I didn't expect anything less. I worked my ass off to get this up so quickly, that's what your reviews do ;).

**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.**

**BOSSMAN.**

I lost count how many times I looked over the same paper work; it all seemed to form into one giant mess of words. I couldn't concentrate on anything of importance. All I paid attention to was the anger and pain that heated my body but made my blood run cold. Yesterday evening I was supposed to go home and enjoy a training session with Lily, perhaps followed by dinner out somewhere. But instead I faced my worst nightmare and spent the evening alone with just my nagging fears as company.

I made one thing certain, however, and had left a very brief, to-the-point message on my lawyer's answer machine. I should have done more yesterday, I should have stopped her. It all happened so fast, now here I am trying to play catch-up.

_"Edward?" _Bella's voice rose into my surroundings. As much as I loved hearing her voice, at that one moment it angered me. She wasn't who I wanted to hear. My refusal to answer coaxed her into calling one more time before giving up and walking into my office. She must have seen the state I worked in because a silent '_Christ' _whispered from her.

"Mr. Morgan is waiting in the function room for you, Edward."

I sipped silently on a coffee - it was cold, but it gave me the distraction I needed. "Cancel it."

"_What? _We have been working for weeks to get this -"

"_I said cancel it." _I seethed.

"Mr. Morgan flew all this way to see you, and you cancel the second he walks into the building?"

"Then have my sister meet him, I don't care."

"No, clearly you don't." Before she completely left the room, I heard her whisper, "screw you, asshole."

Yes, I was an asshole and my father will hate me for potentially messing up our deal with Mr. Morgan. How do I do this? How do I run a successful business, fight for my daughter and save a relationship at the same time? I can't juggle all three. And soon, something's gonna have to give way.

Not too long had passed when Bella came back into the room with a pile of papers piled together in her hands. She slapped them down on my desk with force, sighed loudly and then announced, "I'm going home. I'll see you tomorrow."

"You're going home? It's barely midday?" It wasn't until I looked up at Bella that I instantly wished I hadn't. She looked as though she hadn't slept in days and the spark that usually shone in her eyes had vanished.

"I know. You're a big boy, I'm sure you can cope on your own for an afternoon."

Her flippancy hit a raw nerve, "you cannot just leave when the going gets tough!" I rose from my seat to follow her out the room. "Isabella I'm talking to you!"

She spun round on her heel, "are you even listening to yourself? Who cancelled an extremely important meeting this morning because they couldn't handle it?" I watched her eyes glaze over in tears as she shouted. "Don't give me a fucking lecture you hypocritical bastard." She rubbed at her eyes roughly, Bella hated crying and showing people her weaknesses. I knew she'd have been beating herself up over it. "Yes I'm going home." I let her leave - we'd only say things we didn't mean. Before the elevator doors opened, she looked over her shoulder and added, "I'll see you later, Mr. Cullen."

_Well, if that doesn't make me feel like shit._

_0-0_

It's only when you are left on your own do you really appreciate the extra pair of hands; because I didn't have Bella there to help man the phones there seemed to be a constant line of callers waiting to talk to me. That damn red dot would not stop blinking! I was half tempted to order Bella back into the office, but I knew that wouldn't have done me any favors in the long run. I never heard back from my lawyer, and I thought I was going to crack from the pressure of it all. For for the first time, all I wanted was to hear Bella play some stupid fucking song on her computer and see her dance around like no-one was watching, then return home to my blissful life before spending the evening doing something with Lily.

I wanted my normality back, why is that so hard?  
Before I knew it the time was closing in on four o'clock. The walls felt like they were closing in on me; I had to get out of that place.

_"Edward." _All my hopes were trashed on hearing my sister's voice outside the room. She stormed in, marched down the carpeted flooring, then proceeded to punch the wood of my desk with a fist. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't jam your balls through that paper shredder."

With a finger and thumb I squeezed the bridge of my nose to release my stress. "Look, Rose, I'm sorry about Mr. Morgan."

"Oh, screw him!" _no thank you... _"once again I was there to pick up your mess," she rolled her overly-make-upped eyes, "I'm talking about Lily." _How did she know... I haven't told her about Lily yet. _"When were you going to tell me, Edward? Huh?"

My sister was born with the talent to wrap anyone around her little finger, no matter whether she's spitting her venom or not. She can come at you with a no bullshit approach, or that of a sad puppy.

"I haven't gotten my head around it myself, yet. And how did you...?"

"Funnily enough Miss Swan thought our parents and I would like to know." Sarcasm was clear in her voice.

"Bella told you?"

"Yes, and that leads me to my second topic of discussion." My sister took a seat - she spun from side-to-side leisurely. "Personally I think you are too good for Miss Swan -," I almost cut in to defend myself, but Rose continued to talk, "however I cannot sit back and allow someone to get trampled all over. I don't need to remind you about my past history." _Oh, don't. I almost became a murderer that night. _"You are my brother and I love you dearly, but it is because of my past that I shall not let this carry on a second longer."

Wait... "are you accusing me of... _raising my hand _to her?!" I was seething. How dare she? "Because I can tell you right now I have not!"

Rose pulled tight on the blonde pony tail that fell down her neck. "I'm not saying that! I know you'd never do such a thing. What I _am _saying, however, is that I will not allow you to treat her so dismissively - in the few years she has worked here Miss Swan always had a smile on her face."

"Enough of the formality; her name is Bella!" A numb thud began to beat against my temple. I was surprised a headache hadn't already started.

"Whatever! As much as I think you could do better, I cannot look past the fact that if it wasn't for her you would be up shit creek without a paddle." That became obvious this afternoon...

Rose's posture completely relaxed when she leaned over slightly to pat my arm. The loving girl I knew as my sister had returned, leaving the up-tight business woman behind. "I'm sorry to hear about Lily, and mark my words; that bitch of a mother is going to be sorry she messed with us. But don't let it affect whatever it is you have with Bella - she's hurting as much as you are."

I hadn't meant to push Bella away like I had. I knew what I was doing and I knew the consequences of my actions, but I couldn't stop myself from acting out. Like Rose said, I can't let this affect us. Lily wouldn't want us to fight, she'd want Bella and I to work as a team and sort out all this legal bullshit.

After little persuasion, Rose made me agree to taking the rest of the week off and return on Monday. I can take the time to sort my head out, visit my lawyer and rest. She was worried that if I didn't rest properly I'll slip up again, and I cannot afford that; especially with everything on my plate.

"I'll talk to Dad," Rose slapped my arm sympathetically, "he'll find someone to take your place until then. Family first, little brother."

Josh had the car waiting outside for the moment I left the office block. He assumed I was going straight home, but I had somewhere else to be first.

"Tuckahoe please, Josh."

"Yes Sir. Which street in Tuckahoe, Sir?"

"Terrace Place. Number 26." I spotted the nod Josh responded my demand with, but he never worded a reply. It took longer than normal to fight through the Manhattan traffic; fifty minutes after leaving work and we were only just reaching Tuckahoe. I tried to phone ahead whilst in the car, but every time I rang I was met with the same message:

_You have reached Isabella Swan's phone. Unfortunately I cannot answer right now, but leave a message and I'll be sure to return it._

Bella's house was situated on a small street, surrounded completely by trees. Seeing her car parked out front made me think that she had been deliberately ignoring my calls. To be honest, I would have ignored my calls too.

I climbed the set of stairs that led to Bella's front yard and noticed the untreated weeds and over-grown hedges that lined the lawn. Some more stairs led to the one story, white wood-boarded house with black shutters. The balcony that ran along the front held nothing of interest, apart from a black bench at one end. With my ear up close to the door I could faintly hear the sound of music, but couldn't work out what was playing.

I chapped it quickly. The music was shut off.

Within minutes the door was pulled open to reveal an exhausted-looking Bella. Her hair had been pulled back messily and a pair of black, square rimmed glasses had been used as a make-shift headband. Make up was smudged around her eyes.

"What do you want?"

"I..." Something was felt coiling between my feet, on looking down I saw Angus - the cat that Bella loves more than life itself. "I wanted to talk to you."

"Well you've talked to me now. See you later."

With one hand I stopped her from slamming the door in my face. "Bella please, just listen to me."

After a long pause, she pulled the door back. "What?"

My eyes stared straight into hers. "I'm scared I'm going to lose you."

Bella sniffed dryly, "right now I couldn't give a monkey's ass what you think or how you feel. I tried to help you, but you treated me like shit under your shoe."

I needed to get a rope on my short temper, but at that moment, it was too late. "Do you even know what is going on in my head right now? I have just lost my daughter, the last thing I need is for you to abandon me too!"

That did not help my matter; Bella stepped back in shock. "Are you serious? You don't think the same thing is going on in my head?" Bella dropped down to scoop Angus up in her arms. A comfort blanket, I guessed from the tears that quickly appeared. "I may not have pushed Lily through my legs fifteen years ago, but that doesn't mean that I don't see her as a daughter figure, too. I would do anything for that girl and all I needed today was your comfort, but even that was too much! So I apologize if I needed some time alone today, Bossman."

_Christ, she was right. _ What Rosalie said was true - she was hurting just as much as I was. "Bella, I'm sorry for..."

"Don't. I'm not saying you're going to lose me - as anything, but I advise us taking a small break to get our priorities right." In my previous history of dating, whenever they mentioned taking a 'break' I never saw them again. It wasn't surprising that a fear instantly flooded through me.

"You need to get in touch with your lawyer and anything else you need to get this Lily ball rolling. I'm not going anywhere, Edward, but for now we need to act professionally."

"Act professionally..." _Why did that still scare me?_

"Yes; just until this shit storm is over."

My fingers raked over the stiff hair that grew along my jaw. I wanted to believe that everything would be okay, and once the '_shit storm', _as Bella put it, has cleared we could go back to whatever it was we had before, but that nagging doubt never left my mind. "Promise me." I urged her with my eyes.

Bella rolled hers, adjusting the way Angus was held in her arms. "I promise."

For the first time in a long time, I turned my cell phone off in the car on the way home and made Josh close the divider between us. Nothing could interrupt me and the thoughts that swirled.

It felt like the worst nightmare, but no matter how often I tried, I couldn't wake up and escape the pain.

0-0

**Poor Bossman, lots of shit to deal with here. And how long do you think they will 'act professional' for? I mean, come on...**

**Next chapter - two weeks time.**

**Thoughts?**


	18. Seattle

Surprise! I found a loop hole where I could get two chapters written at once, so you didn't have to wait two weeks :) Forewarning, this is lengthy ;)

**Song: **From Where You Are - Lifehouse.

**CHAPTER EIGHTEEN**

**LILY.**

_"...I miss the years that were erased,  
__I miss the way the sunshine would light up your face,  
__I miss all the little things,  
__I never thought they'd mean everything to me,  
__Yeah, I miss you,  
__And I wish you were right here..."_

I was torturing myself with harmless music. Not on purpose, but when an emotional song came on I didn't skip it for a happier one. Perhaps I wanted to hear someone else sing about their hurt and pain to give me comfort? I don't know. To be honest, I didn't know much at that point. I'd barely spoken to Mom in the couple days since I came back to Seattle - it wasn't 'home' anymore. I've experienced home, and it's now two-thousand miles away. I also noticed that Eric hadn't left the house much either, like Mom had asked him to stay home incase I tried to run away.

The thing was, I had that card from Grandma and Grandpa - the annual flight pass to New York and back, so I could jump onto a plane without the fear of paying anything. I wanted to get back into Mom's good books first before I did anything. At least have her trust me, then when they left the house for the day, I could hail a cab and get the hell out of this place.

I would go back in a heart beat - in fact, a heart beat seems too long a delay. I would go back to Dad's in the fraction of a second, and I know he would accept me back there, but I have to get past the giant barrier stopping me. I don't understand Mom's hatred for him. Apparently he didn't even know I was due until I was born, so Mom could have not told him and carried on with her life. Why put me through the misery, when all she was receiving was some measly pay check once a month? Or maybe that was exactly why she did; put Dad and I through hell, but at least she got some money out of it.

Pausing the music on my iPod, I dropped the earbuds onto the bed, slipped my phone into my back pocket and left the room to find something to eat. Another thing I miss - Siobhan. I wasn't in New York for a hugely long time - just short of 6 weeks - but in that time I became accustom to helping myself to anything I wanted to eat, having a delicious meal three times a day, and having someone there, when Bella and Dad were at work, who appreciates my company. I certainly don't get that here.

The kitchen was empty, thank God, but the TV was on in the next room, so I wasn't completely alone. I found some lasagna in a pyrex dish, loosely wrapped in plastic wrap. I cut off a portion and popped it into the microwave; setting the time for four minutes.

My phone was felt vibrating as I waited on the food to heat through. It was a notification that Bella had sent me a new SnapChat. She insisted that I downloaded that application when I got my iPhone. I didn't understand it to begin with - sending pictures to your friends with captions included - but I soon began to love it. We used to converse through the app; she would send unflattering pictures of herself, and I would reply with the same, then she'd sneak a photo of Dad in his office with an amusing/crude caption.

The picture she sent was of Angus, lying very casually on Bella's bed with his front legs crossed over each other. The caption had me cupping my mouth with one hand to keep back the laughter, she had written: "get that out ma face, bitch" and had added a hand emoji, to make it seem like Angus was telling Bella to back off.

I snapped a hasty picture of my revolving food and added "I miss that little guy!" with the picture. I received a reply when I was about to get stuck into my lasagna, but before I could check my phone, Mom and Eric wandered into the kitchen.

"We're having some friends over for drinks tonight, Lillian, so I want you to be on your best behavior."

"Right," I mumbled under my breath. I couldn't care less that they were having people over; I wouldn't show my face anyway. And who does Eric think he is? Commanding me about like that.

"Answer your step-father properly, Lillian."

I dropped the fork that I was holding loudly on the counter and spun around to face Mom. "He is _not_ my step-father." I spat, pointing an angry finger at the man in question. "He is nothing to me."

"Excuse me?" Mom slowly rose from her seat; her temper rose with her.

"No!" Inside, I had reached my boiling point. "All he is, is another person in this damn house. You may be married to the man, but that is of no importance to me."

"Lil-," Eric started to retaliate, but Mom put her hand out to him.

"It's okay, babe; I've got this." _Babe? Oh don't make me sick. _"You will treat Eric with the upmost respect, do you hear me? He has been there far more than _Mr. Cullen _has."

That was it, that was all it took for me to grab the plate of untouched lasagna and send it crashing to the tiled floor. "Don't you dare! Don't you _dare _speak about my Dad like that!" Tears burned behind my eyes, my throat stung. "He was more of a parent in those six weeks then you have _ever been, _and the second that I can leave this..._fucking house _I'll be going straight back there!" I wasn't normally one to curse, but the word slipped out along with my rage.

"What did you just say?" Mom had a look of disgust etched on her face. "You have quite obviously spent far too much time with that poor excuse of a lady. I never heard you swear once before you went to that house."

I'd had enough with the pair of them. My attempt to fight back was futile; it wouldn't have changed Mom's mind. "You know what? Forget it. You and him can bitch about Dad and Bella as much as you like, but we all know who the better people are."

And with that, I left the room. I was just about ready to punch something - a wall, my mother; whatever. But I fought against the urge and settled with slamming my door instead. A loud sob broke free which left me crippled on my bed. For ages I sat and cried and cried until the acidity burnt away at my eyes and my chest hurt from the heaving. What had I done to deserve this?

I remember being about nine or ten years old, when I would go and play at my friends' house. They had The Sims 3 downloaded on their computer and for hours we would make a family, give them jobs, make them have babies, and fill the house with items we could only dream about owning. I always made my character to look exactly like me, and I would give her my name as well. It was a way for me to live the life that I had always wanted, with two loving parents, various pets, and the biggest house. Then I would go home, and get sent straight back into reality.

0-0

My crying fit must have sent me to sleep, because the next thing I know it was just past seven at night. A constant rumble sounded from my stomach, and seeing that I abandoned the food I had made earlier, I was starving. The laughter coming from downstairs told me the visitors had arrived and, from the smell of food, I knew Mom had made something for them. Had they left me any? Probably not, but I'd hoped to find something.

To my own amazement I found a tray with cold pizza slices on it, bowls of trail mix, an assortment of potato chips, pretzels and bottles of opened alcohol, a selection of beers and the shakers needed to make cocktails. Clearly they were starting the night early. I helped myself to some pizza and a handful of the snacks then filled a glass with Coca Cola. There was a chance Mom would have lost her shit if she found out I had stolen some of their food, but I couldn't find it in me to care.

Back in my room the sense of loneliness hit me straight in the face. With the somber voice of Damien Rice filling my ears and the sound of people laughing and having a good time downstairs, it wasn't long until tears came once again. It didn't help when I looked at the time on my phone and saw the picture of Dad and I from Philadelphia as my lock screen.

I felt so alone.

In a tiny room, in a tiny house, with just my thoughts and memories as company.

Without a second thought, I tapped the four digit passcode and found my contacts list. I was kicking myself for never getting Dad's cell phone number, and only his office contact, so tapping on Bella's, I prayed she was at Dad's that night. If not, I'd get his number off her and enjoy a conversation at the same time. But after a while of just hearing the dial tone, Bella's voice kicked in as her recorded answer machine. I hung up and then tried again, but was met with the same answer machine. Maybe Bella was in the shower or something. I left a message either way.

"Hi it's me, Lily. Um... just phoning for a chat, so... gimme a call when you can. Okay, bye..."

I tried Dad's office just on the off chance that he was working late that night, but as expected, nobody answered.

0-0

All the emotions had done one over on me seeing as I fell back to sleep and didn't awake until the following morning. I lay there for ten minutes, gathering my thoughts and thinking back over yesterday's events when it came to me - I was still waiting on a phone call. With haste I jumped out of bed and headed for my phone charger with the idea that my phone would be attached to one end of it.

But... nothing.

No phone.

I frowned as I thought; I was certain I had put it on charge last night because I remember the low battery warning that came on screen. So... where was it? I went back to my bed and searched under my pillows, cover, even under my bed incase I had taken it off charge through the night and not remembered. But still nothing.

_What the hell? It can't just disappear. Unless... _

_She wouldn't, would she?_

With one hand tightly gripped in my hair, I stormed down the stairs to find Mom cradling a coffee in her hand. She looked like she had had one too many last night.

"Where's my phone?" I demanded.

Mom rubbed her temple, "you will get it back when you have learnt how to behave."

"Then at least let me get some numbers from it first."

She didn't bother to look up at me, "I'm sure your little friends can cope without you for now."

_So pathetic._

"I need to get Dad's number. You cannot stop me from calling him." _Don't cry, don't cry._

"You disobeyed my rules by going to his house, I think I can stop you from doing more thank you think."

"I'm fifteen, not five!"

She rose from her seat and peered at me with a straight face. "Then act your age, Lillian. Now, I need to go out and you are coming with me. Get dressed, please."

I folded my arms stubbornly, "I'm not going anywhere with you."

From the pocket of her robe, Mom produced my iPhone, she waved it at me in torment. "If you want this crappy piece of metal back you will do as I say."

Mom had me trapped - I needed that phone, and she knew that. Plus, like I said before, if she trusted me enough I could stay home when she had to run mundane trips like today. So without another word, I turned on my heel.

Not a word was spoken on the drive to Downtown Seattle; you could have cut the atmosphere with a knife.

For something to occupy my hands with, I flicked open my wallet repeatedly. Open, close. Open, close. It was that moment I remembered - Bella had given me a business card! I have her number!

I tried my best to hide the eagerness in opening my wallet once again, and subtly looked into the card slot where I had put the card. Then I looked once more. The card, like my phone, was nowhere to be seen.

I shot an appalled look at the woman to my left, "have you been through my wallet?"

Mom cleared her throat, she completely dodged my question when she said a brief, "we're almost there."

I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe that someone - _your own damn mother - _could abuse your trust and rummage through something like your wallet. Mom was obviously looking for something that held Dad's number, and to see a card that read: '_Isabella Swan. Assistant to Edward Cullen', _was a dead giveaway. So she thought to destroy that, too.

I was trapped - a prisoner in my own home. No phone, no freedom, no damn internet either. The password had been changed in my absence, and there was no way I was going to be given it.

We turned into a cul-de-sac, drove for a minute, then stopped outside a house. Mom reached behind her to collect a bag from the back seat. "I'll be two minutes," she said before stepping out the car. I watched her delicately jog up the front yard. I imagined daggers going into her back the whole time.

Hate is a strong word, but it was clear to say that I thoroughly disliked my mother at that moment.

I was staring out the window when something to my right caught my attention. It looked as though the across-the-road-neighbors were moving house and the large wooden sign stuck into their lush green lawn had 'SOLD' written across through the middle. But that was not what had attracted me to it. It was the deep blue letters 'B&amp;C'. I wanted to cry, I wanted to laugh, I wanted to flip my Mom the bird with both hands and shout "_screw you, bitch!" _Try as she might, Mom cannot hide everything from me. Especially when she parks outside a house with Dad's business literally advertised in the front yard.

After making sure Mom was not headed this way, I quickly located a pen and a crumpled up receipt, then wrote the digits displayed on the sign.

_206-341-7244_

I was on tenterhooks until the very moment we arrived home when Mom said she was going upstairs of a nap to clear her hangover, I already had the cordless phone hidden in my jacket. I hid behind my bed, and kept my voice down low in case Mom woke up earlier than expected.

_"Good morning; Brandon and Cullen Agencies Seattle, Georgina speaking." _

I played the vulnerable child act. "Hello, I, um... I could do with some assistance and I was wondering whether you could help me?"

_"Absolutely. What can I do for you, Sweetie?"_

"I need to get in contact with the New York offices - Edward Cullen in particular. You don't, by any chance, have a number I could call, do you?"

_"Can I... ask why? You are calling from a local number." _

What did she want? A medal. Yes I'm calling from a local number.

"Please, it's an emergency...he's my father and... _please._" I forced.

_"Okay, listen. I cannot put you straight through to Mr. Cullen, but I can give you the number for reception."_

"Yes, yes, thank you!"

_"But before I do can I ask... is everything okay, Sweetie? You sound close to tears."_

My lips pursed together, "as long as I get to talk to my Dad, then everything will be okay. Thank you, Georgina, I really appreciate this."

I noted down the number she read out. A man answered when I rang it.

"Can I speak to Edward Cullen please?"

The man answered in a stead voice, _"I'm afraid Mr. Cullen is not available today. I can transfer you to Mrs. Cullen instead?" _

"Yes!" I replied all too eagerly, "sorry, um, yes that would be perfect, thank you."

_"Hang on just a second, please."_

I jammed my finger tips against the floor as I waited. If I couldn't get passed through to Dad, I wasn't going to say no to my Auntie Rose.

_"Good morning, Angela Weber." _A voice picked up.

"Angela... Bella's friend?"

_"I'm sorry, who is this?"_

"Sorry, um, this is Lily... Lil-."

_"Lily! Holy God, are you okay?" _I couldn't even think of a reply before Angela continued, _"Bella has been going crazy all day because she couldn't get through to you."_

"My phone was stolen. I'm so sorry to make her worry like that." Wasn't a complete lie. Technically Mom did steal my phone.

_"Don't worry about it, Pigeon. What can I do for you?"_

"Can you put me through to Auntie Rose? I need to talk to Dad, but I lost all my contacts."

_"Absolutely. Oh, Lily, I'm so happy to hear that you're okay. I'll send you through now."_

"Thank you, Angela."

Within seconds Auntie Rose was calling my name, and I had burst into tears. _"Sweetheart, don't cry."_

"I... I'm sorry."

_"Are you okay?"_

My head shook, "I need your help. I need... I need Dad's help..." The words got caught in my throat.

_"Lily, calm down. Please darlin', try and stay calm."_

"O-okay."

_"Now, how can we help? We'll do anything; just name it."_

"I need to talk to Dad." I'd lost count how long Mom had been asleep for. "I don't know how long I have, but I need to talk to him. Please say you have his number."

_"Of course I have his number, but... sweetheart, you're scaring me."_

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you... all I... I need to talk to Dad."

_"Alright, alright." _Auntie Rose read out a serious of digits which I copied onto paper, I also wrote down the number to reach Angela. I thanked her over and over, and she said I was free to call her whenever I wanted. I hung up then and took a short break to check on Mom. Thankfully she had always had a problem with snoring, so I didn't even need to reach her bedroom to know that she was still asleep.

My hands shook with anticipation as I dialed Dad's number. _Please, _I begged, _please._

_"Edward Cullen."_

I could practically hear the hallelujah chorus. "Dad..."

It was all silent for three long seconds. _"Are you okay?" _I couldn't work the words around the stiffness in my throat. My eyes were burning. _"Lily, are you okay?"_

And just like that, I exploded. "You need to get me out of here, Dad!"

_"I'm doing my best, Sweetheart. I promise."_

"No! You need to get me out of here, now!" I silently cursed myself as my eyes glazed over once again. But this time it was out of anger. "She's stolen my phone! She destroyed Bella's card so I can't phone you! I'm a prisoner, Dad!"

_"She what?" _His words were fierce and full of rage. _"Tell me everything; everything she has done since you've been home."_

I gave him a brief rundown, from how the biggest meal I've eaten was cold pizza and trail mix, how all I've done is sit on my bed and listen to music because I can't go anywhere or do anything. Lastly how I had to sneak the phone upstairs whilst she was sleeping, just to phone him, and the hassle I went through to get this conversation.

_"She can't stop you from calling me."_

"But she has! Please Dad, I can't stay here. I want to come back, I want to come home."

_"Listen to me, Lily. You won't be there for long, especially after everything you just told me. Keep yourself safe, alright? And don't let on to anyone about his conversation."_

"I won't - promise. And, Dad, how are you? Are you okay?"

_"I... I'm doing what I can."_

I knew exactly what he meant, 'cause I felt the same way. "And Bella? How is she? I tried to phone last night, but then Mom stole my phone."

_"She is... we're both missing you something crazy, Lil'."_

"I miss you both, too! And Siobhan, and Angus... I never thought I'd miss a cat."

Dad let out a hearty laugh, and it felt like the first time we had freely laughed since this hell started. It felt good to laugh. I felt free for the first time in three days.

_"The next time I see that damn cat I'll let him now. That is, if he isn't trying to piss on my shoes first."_

If I wasn't careful, Mom would have woken up from the sound of my laughter. "Thank you, Dad. You've really cheered me up."

_"Just doing my job, Sweetheart."_

I knew it was time to end the call. Best to quit whilst you are ahead and all that. "I need to go; I can't let Mom hear me on the phone."

_"Alright. Leave this up to me, I'll get you out of there." _I believed every word he said. I had faith that he wouldn't let me down. _"I've taken a copy of that number you're on, just incase we should need to track it for whatever reason."_

"Okay. I love you, Daddy."

_"I love you too, Lil'. I'll see you soon, Sweetheart."_

I hung up the phone and felt the silence close in once again.

0-0

**I cannot deal with this pain, man! But we're getting there, and it'll be back with Bella for the next one! Not gonna lie, guys, it was hard to not swear in that one hahah - I have a potty mouth.**

**A picture of Bella's SnapChat can be found on my Facebook group, RosieRathbone FanFiction! **

**Leave some love for our wee Lily; she needs it. **


	19. Arthur Lincoln

So much hate for Lauren, and I bloody love it!

Word of warning: I was in a really bad mood when writing this... so Bella absorbed that mood. Sorry.

**CHAPTER NINETEEN**

**BELLA  
**Y'know when you wait all day for a parcel to arrive - you don't leave the house, you don't do anything - then the second you take a shower the doorbell rings and you miss it? Or you're searching everywhere for one particular store and had you continued walking in that direction for another hundred yards you would have seen said store? I had one of those moments; so close, yet so far.

But instead of a parcel or a store, my moment came in the form of a telephone call. My day had been pretty crap and once again Bossman had treated me like shit, so Angela forced me to leave the comfort of my couch, suck myself into some skinny fucking outfit and join her for a few drinks. I'm not the biggest fan of bars, but I joined her regardless. Three tequila shots, two glasses of wine and a vodka-lime-lemonade later, we were stumbling out the bar.

"Yes... yes... _ahh come on!" _Angela waved her arms in frustration when a cab drove straight past us refusing to stop. "This one will definitely stop for us." I was too buzzed to even care, just as long as we got home somehow. "_ASSHOLE!" _Oh, I guess that one didn't stop then. I stared at the damp ground and at my feet that had begun to sting from my shoes. Perhaps I should have had something to eat before I came out... The sidewalk started to swirl. Round and round, backwards and forwards. Or maybe that was just me. I couldn't tell.

"Winner winner chicken dinner!" Someone took my hand. I soon found out it was Angela leading me to the awaiting cab. "Terrace Place, Tuckahoe, please Mr. Driver."

It was when I went to find some money that I found my iPhone at the bottom of my bag, and the missed call from Lily. I tried to phone her back, but the time was nearing 2am, so I thought to myself, '_I'll try again in the morning'._

The morning arrived and I went straight into phoning Kid. It rang, and rang... then stopped. An automated message spoke up. She declined the call. Why would she decline the call? I dialed again but in that short space of time the phone had been completely shut off. _Weird. _I thought over the idea that Lily could be at training, so she had to shut her phone off until her class ended... but something told me that wasn't it.

With Angus snuggled on my belly, I padded back to the top of my contact list and hit Bossman's number.

_"Bella." _He sounded tired, and distressed.

"Have you heard from Lily?" I chewed on my thumb nail.

_"Not since she left. Why?"_

"'Cause she phoned me last night, but now I can't get back through to her. I dunno, something just doesn't feel right."

_"Okay...leave it to me, I'll sort it out." _So blunt. So straight. So... Bossman.

"How are you coping with it, Edward?"

I caught the exhausted sigh he blew down the phone. _"Can we talk later? I have a conference call at 10."_

My bullshit radar began to beep loudly in my head. "I never booked a conference call...?"

_"I'll call you later." _ I was left with the dial tone. A sign that Edward had hung up.

I know I was the one who initiated a break and decided to act professionally for a while, but that didn't mean we couldn't talk about how we felt and had to keep everything bottled up... or did it? Do you ever wish you could take back words you said or actions you made?

0-0

By midday I had rolled out of bed, made myself look presentable and driven to work. Carlisle had been understanding with the situation at hand and as well as finding a temporary replacement for Edward, he had found one for me too. But due to the sudden absence I had to go in and see my replacement to go over a few things. Edward's replacement was a man named Mr. Grayson - he was fat, balding and smelt like a monkey's ass. Mine was no better - small in height, fake tits and curly hair that seemed to go out in every direction. Her name was Gina; '_call me Gi'._

_Er... how about no?_

Then I remembered they were both doing us a favor, so I couldn't be that hostile towards them.

I laid out a pile of forms, "this is everything Mr. Grayson will need to know for tomorrow's meeting," Gina chewed on the tip of my BIC biro. _Remind me to throw that out. Thank Christ I keep my expensive ones on me. _"If you have any questions you can either phone me (my number is written here...), or Mrs. Cullen will happily help you out."

Gina flipped back one of the many strands of curly hair, "I'm sure we can handle a simple meeting, Isabella."

"Okay..." I skipped to the folder on my arms, "I understand that we all have different ways of organizing our work," Gina nodded, "this folder is used to keep all our current clients recorded together. It is alphabetized as well as in chronological order from the beginning of this working year."

"Right. Is there anything else we should know?"

I shook my head, "fortunately Mr. Cullen had just the one meeting this weekend and I will be returning on Monday, so as long as nothing vital is ignored I can fix everything then."

Gina shot me a patronizing glance. "I have been doing my job for almost a year now; I know what I'm doing."

_Yeah, and I've been doing it for 5. _

_Stick that in your pipe and smoke it, love._

"Perfect." My smile could not have been more fake. "Then if you are comfortable I will be on my way."

On my way out I dropped by to see Angela, but also to fill Princess in about our new staff members. In the elevator I had tried to ring Lily again, but her phone was still off. "I'm worried about her, Ang." I all but slumped against her desk, then took a sip from the coffee that sat between us.

"How come?"

"It's been a few hours now since she ignored my call. She rang to talk to me Angela! Why would she ignore the call?"

"Maybe she's busy?"

"See, I thought that too," my scratched at my temple, "but my gut is telling me something different."

_My Momma always told me to trust my gut instinct. Unless your gut is making you fart; never trust a fart._

"Don't let it stress you out, Sweet Pea. Buy Taco Bell, go home and swallow that greatness down with a glass of wine."

"At..." I peered at my phone, "Twelve-forty?"

"Hey, it's five o-clock somewhere!"

I cracked out a laugh, "Christ, Ang. Anyway, I need to see Princess. Is she free?"

Angela checked the monitor. "Yep, she's off the phone now." She buzzed through to Rosalie and said that I was out here, and surprisingly enough Rosalie sounded relieved that I was here. _"Oh, yes! Send her through, please."_

_She been smoking the strong stuff again? Enjoying a cheeky wee joint on her lunch break? _

"How are you doing, Bella?" _Bella? She never called me Bella... she barely called me anything! Definitely taking something illegal._

"I'm okay thank you, Rosalie. Er, I've just been up to see Mr. Grayson and his assistant, Gina, to run them through the weekend, but they have been told to ring you if they need assistance."

"Thank you. I appreciate what you're doing, Bella."

"I'm... I'm just doing my job, Rosalie."

Rosalie folded her arms on the desk and sat up straight. Her smile held a hidden pain. "I mean with my brother and niece."

Those seven words brought me from the highest high, to the lowest low. For almost an hour I gave across this pretense that the only thing I was concerned about was my job and the company. I had hoped to leave the building before wallowing in my pity behind closed doors, but Rosalie sucked it out of me. She is very much smoke and mirrors - she is incredible at hiding her true thoughts and feelings. For the first time, Rosalie and I were in the same boat. We both cared for Edward and Lily and wanted to help them. Perhaps that was why I was suddenly close to tears.

I checked my phone again, in case Lily had rung and I didn't feel the vibration. That damn phone call had become my life in a short twelve hour period. However, I needed to get to the bottom of it's mystery.

Suddenly a thought popped into my head. _Lily isn't stupid, if something was wrong she'd try to phone whoever she could, right? I didn't answer my phone, and Edward wasn't in the office. But she could have been transferred to Rosalie... _

"You didn't have any messages from her this morning, did you?"

"No... why?"

I gave her a run-down of my situation, and Rosalie agreed that I was right to feel anxious. She also told me that she would let me know if she heard anything.

"Thank you."

I drove home feeling lighter than I had done. Perhaps because I didn't feel as loaded anymore. Edward had hung up on me, but now Rosalie and Ang had offered to share some of the weight with me. And for that, I was grateful.

0-0

That afternoon I felt a bit better. I had taken Angela's advice and grabbed Taco Bell on my drive home, changed my formal skirt into formal sweat pants (the ones with the least amount of coffee stains and mysterious holes) then sat down to watch re-runs of _Catfish. _I could watch Nev and Max banter back and forth all day long. Mix those two guys with a Cheesy Gordita Crunch? Words are indescribable.

But of course, something has gotta shit on your parade, and this time it was a phone call from Siobhan. _"I think it is best if you came to the house." _My Momma Bear sounded concerned and slightly panicked. Which instantly made me panicked.

_Catfish _was switched off and I was on my feet before I replied, "why? what's wrong?"

_"I'm a little worried about Edward..."_

I stood still. A chill ran down my spine. "Is he okay?" I knew he was acting strange, I just hope he wouldn't do anything stupid... No, he wouldn't do that to Lily... I hope. Fuck, I was so scared.

_"It'll be best if you come and see for yourself."  
_In a moment of panic your mind conjures up every possible situation; good and bad. What if he had done something stupid? What if I was the reason? No, I couldn't deal with that. "Siobhan... should I phone an ambulance?" Have one on standby? Just incase?

_"Oh, honey, no - nothing like that. But I think he'd like to see you."_

I had turned into a puddle on the floor. Fuck, Momma Bear, you sure know how to scare the crap outta someone. "Right, no problem. I'll be straight there." I slipped my feet into some TOMs and checked how much food and water Angus had; incase I didn't came home till a lot later. Then locked up the house. To calm me down during the drive, I connected my phone to the car speakers and pressed play on a Spotify 00's radio. I burst into laughter when the first song was Kanye West's 'Gold Digger'. _Hey Lauren! This one is for you, girl!_

_"...She went to the doctor and got lypo with your money..."_

Half way through Crazy Town's 'Butterfly', the music shut off as a call came through the device. 'Princess C' was displayed on the screen. I went hands free and her voice seeped through the speakers.

_Gotta be road safe, kids._

"Hey, Rosalie."

_"I've just heard from Lily." _She sounded relieved.

"You have? When? Is she alright?"

_"About an hour ago - she begged me for Edward's number. The poor thing was in tears."_

My heart dropped to my stomach. _My little girl, what was that bitch doing to her? She better have not touched a hair on her head._

"Well I just received a call from Siobhan; she wanted me to come and see Edward - now I'm guessing it's because he spoke to Lily."

_"Are you heading there now?"_

The turn-off for Rye could be seen up ahead. "Yeah. I'm about five minutes away."

_"Okay. I tried to call Edward, but he never picked up. Let me know what is happening when you can."_

"I will."

_"Excellent. Thank you, Bella."_

0-0

Siobhan met me in the hallway of Bossman Manor. She had a tea towel flopped over one shoulder and the arms of her flowery blouse had been rolled up to her elbows. There was a soft smell of baking in the air, leave it up to Momma Bear to bake goodies when the going gets tough. She filled me in on the scenario - apparently Edward was seen going to the gym about forty-five minutes ago, he smashed the window of a patio door on his way out. I scanned over to the broken window and the neat pile of broken glass that Siobhan had swept up.

From the kitchen I grabbed a bottle of water and a packet of double stuff Oreos. Bossman is a kid at heart. "Have you spoken to him?" I asked.

"I tried, but he brushed me off."

"Okay, I'll see what I can do." A sudden decision brought me back to the fridge to take a can of Coke also.

"Just be careful, Bella." She called behind me. "He's obviously very angry."

With a sweet smile on my face I turned back to face Siobhan, "y'know he wouldn't hurt me, Momma."

Not a sound was heard as I made my way to the basement gym, which was never a good sign. Had I heard of the pounding of leather I may have relaxed slightly - at least he was letting his aggression out somehow - but I couldn't even hear the slightest squeak of a chain.

Edward was sat in the middle of the ring, he held something in his hands but I couldn't work out what it was. Leaving the snacks on the side, I maneuvered myself through the ropes then softly padded over to him.

"Oh..." I gasped quietly on noticing it was a pair of gloves that Edward held. Black gloves, Lily's gloves.

"She left them here." He answered my silent question. Edward turned them round and round gently in his hold, he slipped one hand into a glove but due to the major size difference he could barely get his thumb in. "_Fuck." _It all became too much for him. His back tensed as his nails scratched away at the plastic of the mat. With a hesitant hand I patted his shoulder, unsure of whether he'd want the comfort or not, but when he grabbed my hand with his own, I knew that he did.

"What did she say?"

Edward put his head back and stared up at the ceiling. He let out a deep breath then rubbed his face roughy with a hand. It was horrible to see him so distraught and torn up, but apart from offer a few words of comfort I didn't know what to do or how to help.

"She begged me to get her out of there." His words came out in a deep whisper. "She..." With a scream of rage followed by a series of cussing, Edward stormed up from his spot and began to walk back and forth with fierce intent. "She is being treated like a fucking prisoner!"

I stood also, but made sure I stepped back. When those fists go flying, I wouldn't want to be in the way. No sooner had I thought that when the punching bag became his victim.

"A fucking prisoner!" One, two, three, four strong hits. "And I can't do a damn thing about it!" It surprised me that he still had hair on his head from the number of times I saw him yank at it.

"Yes you can..." I approached him with caution. And suddenly it seemed as though his rage had miraculously vanished. Edward dropped his head and shoulders like a child after they got a stern warning from their parents. He was vulnerable, and seconds from breaking point. It killed me to witness someone, who was so physically strong, shatter with their mental weakness. I cupped his cheeks, "you're not alone in this," I insisted, "and we will get through it."

His brow had creased; he was deep in thought. "Here," I said, crossing the mat to retrieve the drinks and Oreos "have some of these..." but on turning back round, I saw Edward had his phone in hand. "Who are you calling?" I asked when he rose it to his ear.

"Arthur, it's Edward Cullen." Bossman had returned with a no-nonsense tone. Arthur Lincoln was Edward's lawyer; had been for years. "It'll be happening sooner than thought." _What'll be happening sooner than thought? _"Monday at the earliest... Seven o'clock? Okay, that's fine." And he hung up.

"What's going on?" I asked, but he was paid me no attention. Instead, the phone was put back to his ear after another number was dialed.

_Is anyone going to fill me in here? 'Cause... I'm kinda dying to know._

"Book it for nine o'clock precisely... Then get another! I don't care as long as it is waiting at that time, not a minute later."

Well, he'd changed his tune.

I need to look into the symptoms of bipolar. I think he has it.

"Bella, go home and pack a bag."

_Pack a bag? Woah, what the hell?_

I followed Edward out the ring, leaving the snacks to fend for themselves till someone cleared it later. "What are we doing?"

"You're right," he stopped us, and looked at me with a smug grin, "I can do something. I can get her out of that house."

Hope bubbled in my veins, "so..."

"We're going to Seattle. Tonight."

0-0

**You know what that means... _father daughter reunite! _**

**To keep you occupied between updates, go and check out my other WIP - Behind the Bars, if you haven't already! **

**But anyway, let me know your thoughts!**


	20. Matilda

**I left it up to you guys on Facebook to decide which story to update next... and this was a clear winner. **

**CHAPTER TWENTY**

**BELLA**

We touched down in Seattle a little after four am Friday morning. Due to the adrenaline that rushed through me and the excitement of what was to happen, I couldn't shut my mind off long enough to get any sleep, so I could have died of exhaustion when we finally stepped off the jet. Edward had rang through and made connections before we took off and made sure a car would be there to greet us and take us to a hotel for our stay. As Arthur and Edward spoke business, I curled up against with car side and shut my eyes for two minutes. But not before firing off a text message to Angela, telling her we had arrived and double checking that she knew exactly how to look after Angus. Last night I appeared at her apartment passed over Angus and all his bits and pieces, then said I would be back before Monday. You know you have a good friend when she accepts your cat without a second thought.

I didn't pay much attention to the exterior of the hotel; all I cared about was my bed and how long it would be before I could sleep. However it was brought to my attention that, at such short notice, the hotel could only offer two bedrooms and not three, that Edward had originally requested. One single room and one double room. Arthur did not know about our... _personal relationship, _and Edward wanted to keep it under wraps for the time being, so we played it off nonchalantly, when inside I was screaming.

Neither Edward nor I said a word walking into the room. I quickly changed into some pajamas and chose a side of the bed to sleep on. Before I succumbed to sleep, I looked over at Edward. He was sitting at the small desk unit, his hands ran over his shoulders, neck and face in an agitated motion.

"Get some sleep."

It looked as though he thought over my offer for a brief second, then let out a loud huff. "I can't sleep with all this shit on my mind."

Muttering a silent '_fuck's sake' _I kicked my legs out from under the cover and plodded over to the stressed man. "You won't feel any better if you don't get some rest." I squeezed his tensed shoulders in hope to relieve him of some of the strain.

"It's already dawn; no point in sleeping now."

"We are meeting Arthur at eleven which is," I double-checked the time on my phone, "six hours from now. So get in that damn bed." I pointed a stern finger across the room.

Usually a comment like that would have made one of us reply with a cheeky remark, but we weren't in the mood. I hoped we could get back to that once this trip was over. I missed the old Bossman who'd openly flirt with me in the office and speak his thoughts on my attire - whether it was good, bad, or would have looked better on his bedroom floor.

Now his shoulder was as cold as a witches fucking tit.

Surprisingly Edward did as I said, and it wasn't long until we both were fast asleep. My alarm forced us awake five short hours later. I woke up to feel a pair of arms slip away from around my middle.

_Yep, yep, I miss that. Things have gotta change._

Like planned, Arthur met us at the lobby. He looked very proper in his smart suit and briefcase in hand. Edward, too, had dressed in a smart suit, whereas I looked like I had been pulled through a hedge backwards and had the energy of a sloth.

_Coffee... coffee... where's the coffee?! _

"What do you say, Isabella?" I had completely missed what the men were talking about, which was obvious on my face. "We'll have some breakfast then head off?" Edward repeated.

_Yes! Food, coffee, anything! Give me it all! _"That's fine with me." I smiled politely, to give Arthur the impression that I was a loyal employee who gave a shit, when in all honesty all I cared about was when I'd get fed, and Lily. Okay, I cared about Bossman too.

He'd be third on my list.

Or fourth... gotta remember Angus.

0-0

"Have you verified the address and license plate with Mr. Sharpe?" Arthur asked on our drive over to Lauren's, or where we hoped she lived. Edward had traced an address, but we had asked Brody for reassurance.

"Yes, and he can confirm that both pieces of information are correct. He also added that Mr. Yorkie drives a black Ford Fusion, but has been seen driving Lauren's Audi."

I sat back and listened to the businessman discuss the matter at hand. "Excellent," Arthur continued, "and remember, Edward, because of Lillian's age it is completely up to her who she lives with, but be prepared to have a court battle on your hands from Lauren."

Edward patted Arthur's arm, "that is why you are here, my friend." He seemed strangely relaxed now, I didn't know whether it was from some proper sleep and coffee, or that we were minutes away from Lily. Probably both.

We pulled into a street lined with sweet houses. They were just general family homes - nothing too over-the-top and fancy, which would explain Lily's expression when she first saw Bossman Manor; she'd never experienced a house as grand as that one.

"Number 1748, Sir." Our driver had pulled up outside Lauren's house.

"Park further down the road, Stan."

"Yes, Sir." Without any hesitation, the car rolled forward. Stan is a driver for B&amp;C Seattle, who Edward hired for this weekend only. He seemed like a lovely man, with greying hair and friendly smile. He had a huggable Grandpa look to him.

We formed a plan before exiting the car - Arthur would chap on the door (Lauren wouldn't know him from Adam) then when he is talking to her, Edward and I will appear. If she see's us before she opens the door we won't have a chance - that door will be locked and bolted in an instant.

Butterflies fluttered about my stomach; anything could happen in the next five minutes. With our backs to the side of the house, I clearly heard Arthur greet Lauren and spew some bullshit lie for why he was standing at her door, that was when Edward started to move, I followed. Lauren's jaw dropped to the floor when she took in the two of us. "What the..." She was dressed in a beige blouse, black slacks and her hair had been sleeked back into a pony tail. The shock on her face vanished and was replaced with anger in a sudden. "You all need to leave."

"I'm here for Lily, and I'm not leaving without her."

Lauren looked from Bossman to me; her top lip curled up in disgust. "I see you brought your little lap dog with you, Edward."

_Is that all you've got? Wow, bet you've been working on that one for a while._

_Bitch._

"Excuse me," I brushed past Bossman with a false politeness - my smile may have looked sweet, but in reality it said 'eat shit', "how about we cut the crap and you let us see Lily, yeah?"

Lauren folded her arms defiantly, "she isn't here."

"And you expect us to believe that? Please." I rolled my eyes, Edward held onto my arm and pulled me back so I stood next to him once again.

"Bella, let me handle this, okay?" His voice was soft and gentle, he controlled it well. "There is no reason to make this ugly or difficult, Lauren."

The rolling of her eyes was followed on by a man appearing behind her. He put one arm around her shoulders, and from the grey hair and wrinkles, I knew this man was the famous Eric Yorkie. Her new beau.

"Aah, Mr. Cullen." Eric held out his hand for Edward to shake, but of course, Bossman did no such thing. He retreated it almost instantly. "My wife is telling you the truth - Lillian is not here."

"In that case we'll happily wait until she returns home."

_Ooh yeah, Boss. Don't back down._

Something crossed Eric's face, then with a tight-lipped smile he said, "then please do come in."

"Eh-."

Eric put his hand out to Lauren which halted her words, "it's okay, Darling."

_Maybe I've read this man wrong? He doesn't seem like the dick I had previously imagined._

I stepped into their house with caution - Lauren could have set up some damn booby trap like the boy in Home Alone. Should I watch out for flying paint cans, nails stuck in the floor or giant fucking spiders? Then I told myself not to be so stupid and to act my damn age.

The house was very... plain. From the looks of things the kitchen seemed pretty decent, but we never went inside that room. The hallway was spotlessly clean and all it held were some jackets hung up on wall hooks and a small selection of discarded shoes underneath where the jackets hung. Eric lead us into the living room, and we were offered to take a seat.

Now, I know every house is different, and every family is different, but things seemed a bit off in the living room. When I was a teenager you'd walk into the room and see my DVDs lying about by the television, a bookshelf that held books like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, then a selection of old classics - suitable books for a young teenager. Photos of me from birth to present day were hung on walls, balanced on window sills - everywhere. Even without the photos, if you walked into my Dad's house you would have known that a child of some age lived there.

But I didn't get that in this house. Looking around I couldn't spot a single picture of Lily - not even her first day of school, or the day she was born. Lauren had displayed a few 'model' pictures of herself, plus her and Eric's wedding, but none of her daughter. Lovely. They had a giant flat screen television mounted to the wall, but I couldn't spot any movies which they could sit down and watch as a family. Perhaps Lily had her movies upstairs and her own TV, but why couldn't she have anything in her own damn living room? Apart from coffee table books on modeling and something else, I couldn't see anything else to read. Again, Lily could have had all that upstairs - this is only one room in the house - but I still didn't get a good vibe. There was nothing _fun. _

"Where did Lily go?" I asked, in a way to break the tense silence.

"I'm sorry," Eric leaned forward in his seat, "I don't believe we've been introduced."

"Bella." Another _perfectly _fake smile. "I am Mr. Cullen's PA."

"She's the one that taught Lillian that _disgusting _language." Lauren shot me a stern look and I felt almost inclined to flip her the bird in return. But I didn't.

_And 'disgusting language'? Has my girl been using the odd curse word? Goddamn, I'm so proud. _

"I see." Eric adjusted the way he sat, but never said another word.

_Um, excuse me, I believe I asked you a question. _

_Fuck the formalities, I'm here for one thing and one thing only. _

Just as I opened my mouth to ask the question again I was interrupted by the opening of the front door, everyone stood as Lily was seen kicking off some sneakers, unaware that we were standing a few feet away. From the outfit I knew she had been on a run. It wasn't until she turned and said: "sorry I'm late," that she spotted us. I could see her eyes widen and jaw drop, _"Daddy," _she gasped. Lily ran full pelt passed the sofa and over to Edward, who had crouched down slightly to receive her. My eyes pricked with the forming of tears.

"You were meant to be home five minutes ago, Lillian."

I paused our reunion to deal with the Wicked Witch and her audacity. She clearly had a death wish. "Did you give her a curfew?" I stood in front of Lily and noticed the protective arm Edward had put around her. We were not letting Dumb and Dumber anywhere near this girl.

"As far as I know you are not a mother, are you Miss Swan? So please don't patronize me like you know what you are doing." And that, ladies and gentleman, was Lauren's fantastic answer. I had to laugh, that was _gold. _

"It was so I couldn't run off anywhere." Lily responded boldly.

"Really?!" I looked between Lauren and Eric in bewilderment. "And where was she meant to go with nothing but her running gear on? Answer me that, Queen Bee."

"Bella," Edward took my hand, "don't go there. We have Lily now."

_Yes we fucking do! The inner-me clapped her hands excitedly and did a little celebration dance. _

"I can't believe you're here." Lily hugged her dad firmly with one arm around me. "How long are you staying for?"

"For as long as it takes for you to pack up your stuff." Edward smirked and winked.

"Are you serious?"

"Excuse me?" Lauren butted in with Mr. Eric firmly by her side. "And what gives you the right to do that?"

_Aw, dude, you're full of them today. _

_Love it!_

"I could ask you the same thing," Edward's voice rose in anger, "when you walked into my house and all but dragged her out behind you."

"This is Lillian's home."

"Enough!" Kid shouted as she wormed her way out between Edward and I. "You call this my home but a prison has more heart to it!" I saw the rage grow in Lauren's face, she was seconds away from boiling over but Lily was too engrossed to notice. "You have done nothing for me, I've had to do everything for myself!"

"You selfish little -," claps to my speedy reaction and my ability to catch Lauren's wrist before she could slap Lily about the face. The second I caught her wrist it was action stations for everyone else. Edward pulled Lily behind him, Arthur actually made himself noticed and stood forward with Edward, and Mr. Eric held onto his darling wife's shoulders to pull her back.

"You dare try that shit again, and this is the last time you'll see _my daughter. _If you think, for one second, I'm going to leave her here with you, you need a serious reality check._" _A sound, not unlike a snarl, ripped from Bossman as he spoke. Up until that moment I thought I had heard him at his angriest, but they were nothing in comparison to this.

The thing that got me was Lauren didn't look the slightest bit upset that she almost slapped her child. I could have thrown up all over her cream carpet.

"What is it you want?" Edward continued, stepping closer and closer to Eric and Lauren, "my money? Take it - I don't care anymore. But this is the last time Lily is staying under your roof. Raise your hand to my child again, you'll both be begging me for fucking mercy."

_Mmm, don't Bossman._

_My insides cannot take your protective Daddy-ness._

Another thing I noticed - Eric didn't try to protect his wife from Edward's threats. I couldn't work out the two of them, and that caused me much distress and confusion.

However it became clear that Lauren could stand her own; she may be small, but bitch has a backbone. "Like I said before, _Edward," _she spoke his name like something vile, "you cannot come in here with your... little army and take Lillian as easily as that."

_Little army? Bitch, I'll show you what it feels like to get slapped._

_All. Fucking. Over._

_With a frying pan._

"Stop it!" Lily bravely stood beside he father. "You have treated me like shit for as long as I can remember and I cannot take it anymore! I have done my research and I am of age to _choose where I want to live! _And I want to live with someone that loves me, takes care of me, and allows me the freedom I deserve. I especially _don't _want to live with someone who slaps me."

"Lillian, I don't appre-."

"_SHUT. UP." _Kid screamed, I took one of her tensed up fists to help her calm down. She looked around Edward to get Arthur's attention. "I'm right, aren't I?"

Arthur finally had his five minutes of fame. The trip out here was no longer a waste of time for the poor man. "Mrs. Mallory."

"It's Mallory-_Yorkie." _Lauren emphasized.

"Mrs. Mallory," Arthur refused to amend his mistake, which had me immaturely snort through my nose. "What Lily said is correct. If she would rather live with Mr. Cullen that is entirely up to her. And from what I have witnessed here this afternoon, I can't say I wouldn't back up her decision one-hundred percent."

"But what about your school? The education I spent thousands of dollars on?"

"First off, that was Dad's money - not yours." Again, Lauren was too concerned about her wealthy income. "And had you paid a spec of attention you would know that I hate my school, I never wanted to attend it and had been wanting to leave for years."

"I'll make sure that Lil' goes to the school of her choosing. She will be coached by the best boxing coach around, and because she _wants to, _not because I want her out of my hair for a while."

_Oooh, apply some aloe vera to that BURN!_

And without another word Lily walked past Dumb and Dumber refusing to even look in their direction and ascended the stairs with Edward following. I guessed it was to pack up her belongings. I stayed downstairs, because I wasn't quite finished yet.

"Edward's bark is worse than his bite," I crept closer and closer to the gruesome twosome, "but that rule does not apply to me. If I wasn't completely against animal cruelty, I'd beat your ass into next week."

"Animal cruelty?" She asked.

_Christ, this woman makes criticizing so damn easy._

"Have you looked in the mirror, Love?"

Eric put his hand on my shoulder so I couldn't walk any closer to Lauren, "I would like you to leave now, please." He ordered with a steady voice. "I did not allow you into this house for you to insult my wife like that."

"Woah, calm it Old Man River," my hands were raised in defense, "and had you and your 'wife' _not _treated us like shit under your little patent shoes, there would have been no need for our '_insulting'. _Now before you go and break a hip on me or, fucking... spit out your dentures, let's get one thing straight. We have done _nothing _to deserve your fucking hostility. You have no doubt lost Lily from your lives completely," I looked for a sign of pain from either of them, but nothing became obvious. "And I hope you regret your actions for the rest of your miserable lives."

With a smug smile I left them standing there and went to find the rest of the group. Unknown to me, Arthur had been listening in to my speech. He slapped my arm proudly and whispered, "he's lucky to have you; they both are."

Father and daughter left the house with two duffel bags each. I asked if there was anything else to collect, but apparently that was all Lily had and all she cared about. Her eyes were red-rimmed and sore-looking; a sign that she had been crying.

"C'mere, Sweetie." She cuddled into me easily. I pressed a kiss into her hair. "Are you okay?"

"I'm much better now."

"You don't need to come back here, but I advice saying something to your mom and Eric."

"I don't want to..."

I looked over at Edward, he was standing by the car and smiling at us sympathetically. I kissed Lily's hair once more. "I know, and I understand it's because you are angry, but you will regret it if you don't say anything."

It took five minutes for Lily to find the confidence to speak to Lauren and Eric. I hung out with Bossman at the car, I laid my exhausted head on his shoulder - today had been a whirlwind of emotions. The whole story reminded me of Roald Dahl's character Matilda. A girl who grew up with parents that only cared about money and had no interest in her likes and dislikes. Then a sudden turn of events finds Matilda with a new family and new home.

A chance to make things right and start again.

0-0

**Aah... and relax.**

**For those of you who didn't see my post on Facebook, I was having a hard time these past few weeks, so most of the things that our three said to Lauren, is what I want to say to a select few.**

**Let me know your thoughts and I'll see you next time! **


	21. Wasp

**I haven't completely disappeared; for personal reasons that were leaving me stressed and ill I needed to take a break, then I injured myself badly and was on medication for a bit.**

**A filler chapter; something fun and easy after the drama we've had. Plus, this opening scene is literally what happened to me five minutes before starting. A daily struggle in my life ;)**

**CHAPTER TWENTY ONE**

**BELLA**

It is a rare moment for me to wake up to my alarm and not instantly feel the urge to fling the damn thing across the room. I was certain it had something to do with Lily's safe return and time for us all to recover and get back to normality. I lay there quite happily, thinking another 5 minutes in bed wouldn't do me any harm, when suddenly I heard the tormenting sound of a buzzing creature outside my window.

_Bzz, bzz, bzzzzz._

Was it a bee? A wasp? Maybe I had found myself in The Hunger Games and a swarm of tracker jackers were at my window. Okay, be reasonable. But seriously, nothing fears me more than that sound. And seeing as it was the middle of summer in New York, of course my windows were open. I made a mad dash over to said windows in hope to close them before anything could fly in, but the damage had been done and the stripy little bastard could be seen crawling up my side of the pane.

He has the entire world to fly about in and he chose the tiniest crack in my window?! Asshole.

"Oh shit... shit..." I stayed exactly where I was, not moving a muscle as I watched the wasp like a hawk. It continued it's travels across the glass, and I still refused to move until the second it flew in my direction. _"Fuck!" _I screamed, "please, Baby Jesus, help me." Someone must have been listening to me, 'cause the wasp then lost interest in me and flew to my lamp shade.

Yet I still didn't feel safe. That fucker can have my room now - he's contaminated it. Grabbing my phone from the night stand, I locked myself in my ensuite and double checked the window was closed before I was made to relive the nightmare.

As if by magic, Bossman chose that moment to call. _Aah, my saving grace! _"Edward, please, you need to help me." I begged, all whilst curled up on the toilet seat.

_"Bella? What's wrong? Where are you?"_

"I'm in my bathroom 'cause there is a wasp in my room. I've seen you deal with them before, so can you come and get this little fucker for me?"

Edward let out a loud sigh, _"you've got to be kidding me, right? I thought something was seriously wrong with you then."_

"Excuse me, there is a _wasp _in my _bedroom! _I barely made it out alive."

_"Oh Bella, grow up," _he was laughing now, so I guessed he wasn't that annoyed. _"Lil' and I have planned something for the three of us, so come over to the house when you can, please."_

I peered around my new surroundings, "okay, but I don't know how long that will be. I could be held captive for days!"

Boss laughed harder, _"I bet if you went back into that room now you'd see that your guest has vanished."_

"Hmm..." With Edward still on the phone, I stepped carefully over to the door, my heart beating a mile a minute. Ever since I was stung on the lip at a young age, I've never been okay around anything that buzzes, flies and is set out to sting you. My Dad (God rest his soul) said that my lip swelled up so much I reminded him of Bubba from _Forrest Gump _

_...You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it... _

_"Bella? You still there?"_

"Um, yeah... I'm just... finding the courage." I had my hand over the door handle, but I couldn't find it in me to open the door. _Oh, for fucks sake, Bella, don't be ridiculous! _With a mental countdown from three to one, I turned the handle. Peering my head around the door, I couldn't see any sign of the little dick. Hm, perhaps Bossman was right.

_Bzzzz_

"Oh, fuck!" I yelled, slammed the door once again and ran back to the safety of my toilet. "Nope. Nope. Sorry Boss, any meetings today will have to be done through Skype."

_"It is more scared of you than you are of him, Love."_

"Really? 'Cause I find that quite hard to believe, seeing as he can fly and has a big ass sting! I have... nothing and can barely walk in a straight line."

It felt as though I'd be stuck here for days, forever living in my bathroom, making video diaries when the going got tough. _'Day 4; I've ran out of toilet paper.'_

_"Have you got a magazine to roll up, or a small towel?"_

"Er, yes..."

_"Right, then use that for self defense, and if the wasp comes near you you can swat it." _

"Okay... okay..." With my heart still pounding away, I collected a hand towel and rolled it up to form a baton-like shape.

_"Remember Love, if you can go up against Lauren, this tiny insect is nothing." _

"Too true, Bossman. I could pretend it's her when I swat the hell out of the damn thing."

Edward laughed once again, _"if that would make things easier for you." _There was a small pause between his words, _"right, I'll see you here shortly then." _

We ended our conversation there and, armed with my weapon, I left the safety of my bathroom. I spotted the wasp straight away, crawling back over my window. Angus hadn't moved from my bed and looked at me as if to say '_what the hell are you doing?' _

"You've got my back, right Angus?" Funnily enough, I didn't get a response so I continued to creep closer and closer. "Just stay there... don't you dare move you little asshole..." I spoke to the wasp, not Angus. It was still walking about probably trying to find an exit, but before it could I had swung the towel over my shoulder and caught my victim against the glass. The wasp fell onto the window sill, and a whole weight of fear lifted off my shoulders. From the flutter of wings and the wriggling of his legs, I knew it was still alive, but I doubted he could do much damage in that state. With the corner of my towel I picked him up and chucked him out the window.

_Well, if that doesn't wake you up, I don't know what else will._

_0-0_

As I showered, shaved and thought about my life, I found myself singing an awful rendition of James Bay's song 'Hold Back the River'. _"Hold back the river, let me look in your eyes, hold back the river, so I..." _I often impress myself with my ability to sing out of tune. I mean, I deserve a medal or something, right?

I thought back to what Edward had said earlier on the phone, that he and Lily had planned something, and I doubted that it was work related, so with that in mind I went for a simple outfit of denim shorts (modest enough and not too revealing), with a deep grey Guns 'N' Roses vest, and my black Chucks. I answered a few emails that had arrived during my wasp torment, said goodbye to Angus, and hit the road.

Apart from pulling into a Starbucks for my usual morning pick-me-up ( a grande caffe latte with an extra shot of hazelnut), I made a clear drive straight to Bossman Manor and was greeted by an over excited Lily at the front door.

"Hi, Bella!" She was literally bouncing on the spot, dressed in black capris and a deep pink sports bra.

I pushed my Ray Bans onto the crown of my head, "do I need to warn Momma Bear about the amount of sugar she puts in your coffee, Kid?" As much as I tried, I couldn't hold back the laughter and wrapped my arms around my favorite girl.

"I'm just so happy to be back here, y'know?" It had been three days since we came back from Seattle and Edward and I were astonished with how easily she had adjusted. Daddy Dearest had bought her a new iPhone after Lauren refused to give the original one back, and it was like she had never left. I had asked her how her friends were dealing with the distance now between them, but Kid confessed to me that they were more fickle friends - ones who would laugh and joke _with _you, but behind closed doors they'd laugh and joke _at _you. That broke my damn heart.

"It wasn't the same without you." I said, followed by a kiss on her head.

"Right!" Lily broke us from the serious mood we had found ourselves in and led me into the house. "Dad said he'll be ready soon, so you're to get changed and we'll meet him here."

_Wait, I've clearly missed something here. _"Get changed? Into what?" _What the hell are we doing? _

"Did Dad not tell you?"

"He said the three of us were doing something, but he never said what it was."

Lily thought that over for a second, "oh it's fine! I'm sure I have some you can borrow. What size are you?"

Before I could complain, Lily had my hand as she led me up the stairs. "Um, an 8?" I responded, unsure as to _why _I needed new clothes.

"I'm a 6, but I'll find you something."

It wasn't until she opened a drawer filled with only gym wear that I got an idea of what we were doing. "Please don't say we're doing what I think we're doing..."

"Aw, come on, Bella! I want you to join us!"

"I'll happily stand and watch you guys, but I'm not taking part. I break a sweat by simply changing my bed sheets!"

"Is that possible...?" Lily cocked her head, then brushed it off. "Oh well, come on - it'll be fun. A stroll in the park."

_It'll be fun, _she said. _A stroll in the park, _she said.

_0-0_

It wasn't the gym equipment that caught my attention, nor was it the various ropes, weights and... car tires? No, that was not what caught my attention. It was Bossman in that fucking top! He should have known the effect it would have on me when he walked into the gym with his muscles blazing and every freaking ab noticeable through his skin-tight vest. On the back of his black vest, printed in white, were the initials _E.C_ and the words "_New York State Champion 1997". _It had been far too long since I last inspected his abs. I needed to sort that out.

"Well, Bella, that sports bra suits you." Boss tried so hard to keep back his sniggering, but he failed.

"Eyes up here, you dirty pervert." My top may have been a little too small, making a rather emphasized cleavage. A cleavage that Edward was finding it too hard to look away from.

He raised his eyebrows, "what? It's not something I haven't seen before..."

_Ooh, good one, Boss. _

_But I can go one better. Thank Baby Jesus Lily has gone to get water bottles, cause she shouldn't be a witness to this._

"In that case," I sauntered over, swinging my hips in a flirtatious way, "I'm allowed to check out your ass?" My arms curled around him, my hands rested just above said ass. "Cause it, too, is not something I haven't seen before?" My hands moved from his back over to his hips. The look of pleasure that he tried so hard to fight back caused me many a laugh. I leant in close to whisper, "two can play at that game, Boss."

We jumped apart at the sound of Lily coming back down the stairs, but Edward managed to slip in the last word, "game on, Miss Swan."

It gave me such a joyful feeling to witness our banter once again. I honestly had missed the way we used to act around each other, and I hoped this was the start of its return. And it wasn't just the banter I missed... That ass felt good, just sayin'.

We started off with a 'simple warm-up', which may have been simple to them, but it was no easy task for me.

"Starfish," Edward ordered, staring at the mirror that lined the main wall in front of us. I copied Lily's stance, because everything sounded like a foreign language to me. "On three, left hand to right foot, then right hand to left foot. We'll do that for thirty seconds."

Music began to play through the overhead speakers, even though I don't like remix songs I had to admit that the fast pace of the song motivated you to move faster. But that didn't mean I was any good. Lily and Edward would bend over and brush the laces of their sneakers, where as I could barely reach my shin.

"Keep going, Bella." He spoke with a heavy breath.

"But it's sore."

"Five more, come on." With a huff, I got back into their rhythm. "And four... and three... and two... and one... breathe out and relax."

_Okay, I've done your shit, can I go now?_

"Lil', you choose the next stretch."

"I need to improve on the mountain climber, how about that one?"

Edward was only too happy to accept. At first I thought it was going to be easy because the first move was to lie face down on the yoga mat. _Ha! I do this stretch daily. It's called sleeping. _The other two rose into a press up, and that was where my trouble started, I didn't even have the strength in my arms to keep up my body, and fell flat on my stomach before the stretch began. But I was determined to try again, and this time I held the position.

"Lower your body slightly further to the ground, hold it, then one at a time bring your knees up to your chest. Okay? Go."

Heat and pain radiated my body, I began to shake and was seconds away from falling, however I kept going. The moment Edward called the time on that move I collapsed onto my mat and did what I could to get my breathing back under control. I was done, so done. That stupid damn move had made places sweat that I never knew existed, and it was only the fucking warm-up!

I didn't join in with the last two stretches, mainly because I valued my life too much, but also, quite frankly, I couldn't be fucked.

Edward had Lily squat down into a 'burpee', and he copied her movement. "And remember," in sync the pair jumped up before repeating the move, "contract your glutes as you lift to tighten them." Edward shot me a subtle wink.

_Oh please, Bossman, your glutes felt plenty tight to me. _

_0-0_

_Fuck, I give up. _

I threw my towel in five minutes after the training session began, because I was not working myself to the bone for Bossman's gratification, but I stayed in the gym to watch father and daughter in their natural habitat - the boxing ring. I'd never seen Edward as the coach, and it was surprisingly comforting to watch.

The exercise she found the hardest were the hurdles. She had to jump over each one with tight elastic that ran down her arms and from her waist to her ankles. "You _need _to be faster, Lil'," he'd urge during leg work, and as forceful as it may have sounded, Edward knew what he was talking about and he only pushed her because he cared.

Lily bent over with her hands braced on her hips, I could see her back arch from the deepness of her breath. "I'm sorry, Dad, I can't do this one." Because she admitted her weakness he didn't pressure her into it, he said in time she'd get better and they continued on with something else.

"Right, Bella, you're up." Edward sauntered over to my spot on the floor with his arm outstretched.

"Nope," I refused, my arms tight over my chest, "I told you I'm not playing those little games."

He squatted down in front of me and I tried so damn hard to train my eyes away from the bulge of his crotch. It was _right. there! _ Practically winking at me, the sassy bastard. I wanted to reach out and touch it, but my Momma told me it was wrong to touch a person's private place without permission. _Damn._

"I will pick you up and carry you to that ring if you refuse." Edward smirked, and I knew he wasn't lying.

"Fine!" I accepted, only because I was not going to be treated like a stubborn child and thrown over someone's shoulder. I plonked my ass down on the mat, then lay back with my arms sprawled out by my side.

Once again, Edward kneeled down before me and put both hands on my shoes to keep my feet in place. "I want you to do 10 sit ups, Bell, but when you sit up you'll punch across once, twice, then repeat. Okay?"

"I can't do sit ups." I moaned.

Boss laughed at my refusal, "anyone can do a sit up."

"Yeah, well I'm not anyone!"

"Come on, Bella, it's easy." Kid stood behind her father, amusement written all over her face.

"Your tits look great in that top, have I told you that already?" He whispered once Kid had run off to grab her water bottle.

"Calm it with your dirty talk, Boss." I put all my strength into pulling myself up to my knees, punched the air, then fell back down. By the fifth one, my lower back was hurting, along with my thigh muscles and I was close to passing out. I was a mess on the floor, hot, sweaty, and making many an odd-sounding grunt.

_So attractive._

"It's been a while since I've seen you like this - hot and sweaty in front of me." As much as I wanted to reply with something, I decided to keep quiet and focus on my lifts instead. Two more to go, I can do this.

I finished the tenth sit-up with so much pride; it was the best feeling. I acted like I had just completed a marathon but for someone like me, who gets out of breath walking up a set of steps, I thought I did pretty well.

"Well done, Swan. Maybe tomorrow you could push for 15."

"Er, no." I sat back against the ropes and took in sips of water from the bottle Lily passed me. "If you want to get me like this again, you'll need to use a different tactic."

_Oh yeah, you know what I'm talking about._

"Maybe I will," he smirked, "you better keep your eyes peeled, Swan."

_0-0_

**So I'm gonna be honest here, I'm not a fan of this chapter. The writers block was high with this one. **

**But they are getting closer again! I couldn't keep them apart for longer than I had to LOL. Any songs mentioned in this chapter will be in the Spotify playlist for this story, Bossman's Beats. **

**Thoughts?**


	22. Esme

Two separate POV's in this chapter.

**CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO**

**LILY**

I am not your typical 15 year old girl. I'm not the sort of person who, if they don't need to wake up, won't wake up. But then in saying that, I'm not a morning person either. Very confusing, I know. My 'friends' back in Seattle slept until mid-morning, then lazed about their house all day before going to a party in the evening. I never did that, nor do I want to do that. I wake up at 7am every morning because I love the idea of having breakfast with Dad before he goes to work, and enjoying a coffee with Siobhan as she tidies up the kitchen. In the short time that I've lived here, and the even shorter time that I came back, it is a morning routine I have grown accustom to. Even on the days that Dad doesn't go to work, we still have breakfast together.

"Do you have any plans today?" Dad asked after swallowing his food down with a glass of orange juice.

"No," I replied, buttering my toast, "nothing that I can't do at a later point."

"Good, well Grandma rang me last night and said that she'd love to spend the day with you."

"Today?" I hadn't seen Grandma and Grandpa since Dad's birthday a couple weeks ago, and I missed them.

"Yes, or tomorrow if you'd prefer."

"No! Today is perfect!" I was so excited. I wondered if Grandpa would be there too, or if, like Dad, he went to his own office every day.

"That's it sorted then. I'll ring Grandma and say we'll be dropping you off on our way to the city."

In a sudden hurry, I gulped back the last of my juice, grabbed the half slice of toast, and ran to get changed. I didn't want Dad to be late to work. "I won't be long, I promise."

I could hear Dad's laughter as I headed for the stairs, "take your time. There's no rush, Pumpkin."

I had no idea what to wear to Grandma's house - I wanted to give off a good impression, but maybe I should wear whatever makes me feel more comfortable and not try too hard. After some consideration, I went for a comfy outfit made up of a wavy, floral dress that stopped just above my knees, a thin brown jacket and brown sandals. I filled my purse with the basic essentials - wallet, phone, and keys - then ran down to meet Dad.

One thing that Dad had done since I returned, which I still could not get my head around, was he got me a debit card. An actual debit card that holds money in it! Money that I can use to buy whatever I want with! I'd never had a debit card, and I told him that I had no use for one, but he refused to listen and said that he wanted to make sure I was always safe, and always had money on me should an emergency arise. The card was still to arrive in the mail and I insisted that I could easily do without money until it did arrive, but once again Dad looked past that and slotted some cash in my wallet.

I didn't know how to act, of course I was hugely grateful but it all seemed like too much. Maybe it was something I had to get used to - Dad and his side of the family are exceedingly wealthy, and money is no issue for them.

Dad was waiting in the car when I ran out the door, shouting a quick 'bye!' to Siobhan on the way. He was in the middle of a phone call, so I slid in and closed the door as quietly as I could.

"Good morning, Miss Lily." Whispered Trent, the driver for the day.

"Good morning," I beamed, "how are you?"

"I'm very well, thank you."

Once I was safely strapped in, Trent started the car. I assumed Dad had told him about the detour already.

"Make sure that is done for tomorrow, and no later," Dad's phone calls were always very brief when he spoke to a colleague. "Good." He ended that call, then dialed another one straight away. "... Good morning, Miss Swan," I noticed the smile he sported, it was so cute. "I'm on my way now, but I need you to do something for me...no, not that, but perhaps later..." I really wished I hadn't witnessed their flirting, "You need to phone Alice and see whether she and Jasper could fly over in the near future - I need to discuss something with them... no, it's best done in person. Get that done for me please, love... Excellent, see you soon."

We were quiet for a few minutes, until Dad broke the silence. "I'm finishing early today, Lil', so Trent and I will collect you on our way back."

"Okay," I smiled.

"Then you and I are going on the hunt for a school." He grinned at my suddenly unamused face.

"I could do what you did and... just quit?"

Dad let out a bellowing laugh, "oh no - nice try, Kid. You will get an education, and we'll train in the evenings once your school work is done."

"Does it have to be a big posh school?"

Dad thought over my question as he rubbed at one side of his jaw. "I want you to have the best education possible, but I also want you to be happy, so we'll need to see about that one."

It took us twenty minutes to drive to Grandma and Grandpa's, and just like Dad's, their house was giant! It too had a security gate before a curved drive way took you to the front door. A slopping lawn separated the house from the main road. The three story building was made of tan bricks, with white outlined windows and an open porch on the ground floor. A matching garage was spotted just off to the left of the house.

"Did you grow up here, Dad?" I asked, whilst taking in my surroundings.

"Yes - we moved here when I was a young child; this place has always been my home."

"Wow...You were so lucky..."

"Hey," he took a hold of my hand which made me turn to face him, "this is yours now too, remember. Mom and Dad have no plans on moving from this estate." I knew it was going to take a while for that to sink in - this was now my home, whether Mom liked it or not. I wasn't staying for a summer vacation anymore.

Grandma appeared at the door and all but ran down to the car. I gave Dad a brief hug, thanked Trent for the ride, and stepped out the car.

"I'll give you a call when we're heading back, Lil'."

"Okay, bye!"

Grandma pulled me into the warmest of hugs, "oh, my girl," her voice was full of emotion, and I noticed the hint of tears in her eyes.

"Hi, Grandma, thank you for inviting me over." We both stopped to turn and wave at Dad as they drove away.

"Lily, please, you never need an invitation to come here." It was my turn to feel emotional - I'd never get used to feeling this wanted. "Come inside; I've just made a cake which we _have _to enjoy."

_I think I'm gonna like visiting Grandma._

The kitchen was made up of deep wood flooring, dark countertops and cream cupboards, with appliances so shiny I could see my reflection in them. In the middle of the breakfast bar was a beautifully iced sponge cake with jam lined in the middle.

"Tea?" Grandma asked, holding up the kettle.

"Oh, yes please." As the water boiled, I took in the finer details - the dining room that had been added onto the kitchen that held an oak table with eight seats, and fitting art work on the walls. "Thank you," I said when the mug of tea was passed over.

"You are such a polite young girl."

No-one had ever said that to me before; it came as a shock for Grandma to comment on it. "Oh... um, thank you?" What else could I say to that?

"Can I just say, Lily," Grandma started once a slice of cake had been cut and handed to me on a plate, "that I could not be happier to know you are back where you belong."

Again with the emotion, a slight stinging was felt in my eyes from the sudden tears. "I must admit, this feels like a giant dream - when I returned to Seattle I was certain that that would have been my life for a good few years. I'll never forgot the day I saw Dad and Bella standing there in Mom's living room."

I took a bite of the cake, it melted in my mouth. The sponge was so light it felt like I was eating air.

"There was no way Edward would have made you stay there any longer than you did. He is just like his father that way - if they want something, they will do whatever it takes to make it happen."

A question lingered in my mind. A question I had been dying to know the answer to, but never had the time to ask. Now was the time. "Grandma, how was Dad when.. when I left?"

Grandma dropped her cake fork to rub her face slightly. As much as I wanted to know, her reaction made a part of me _not _want to know. "It was horrible, I have only ever seen him act that way before, and that was when he lost his fight all those years ago."

_The fight he lost when I was born. _

"I'm sorry," I mumbled, "I hate knowing I'm the reason he was so upset."

"Why are you apologizing?" She took my hand in hers. "It is not your fault that happened."

"I know... I just... I don't know." I picked at my portion of cake for distraction. "At least he had everyone here to help him through it." The idea of Dad feeling that miserable sent a chilling pain through my heart. "And the same with Bella; I doubt she found it easy either."

"No," Grandma laughed lightly, "and it doesn't help that she and Edward fought like cats and dogs for most of it."

"What?"

_Oh no... no, please say that isn't true. I couldn't take the guilt if it were true._

"They didn't tell you?"

"Um... no."

"Oh..." Grandma looked down at the bar, "perhaps you should ask them about it. I'm sorry, I never should have said anything. _Me and my big mouth." _She whispered.

"Was it bad? Are they still arguing?" I never sensed any sour moods when Bella joined us in the gym yesterday.

"No no; please, don't torture yourself like that. From what I heard from Rosalie, it is like the argument never happened."

I sighed a deep sigh of relief, but I mentally made a note to hear the whole story later one.

_0-0_

"Here is the living room," Grandma led me across the grand hallway to a door made of white oak. "There is something in here which I think you might like to see..." I couldn't, for the life of me, work out what that could have been, and still had no idea when I was led into the room and nothing instantly popped out in front of me. However that all changed when I noticed the fire place and the selection of frames above.

"Oh my..." Tears sprung into my eyes; I couldn't hold them back. Five frames sat above the fire place, which all held a picture of me - four of them were pictures from when I was a new born baby to six-seven years old, then the final one held a picture taken just recently - me and Dad standing at the top of Rocky's steps. "When... how... how did you get these?"

Grandma put her arm around my shoulders, "whenever Edward went to see you we begged him for a new photo, hence why there is the big gap between ages."

All these years, Grandma and Grandpa had never met me, yet they still put out pictures. It showed that they have the biggest heart, and how important family means to them. Mom never had pictures of me around the house, and it never bothered me until that very moment. The tears rolled down my cheeks, which Grandma caught notice of.

"Oh, my darling. Why are you crying?"

"I think..." I rubbed the apple of my cheek with a finger, "...it's all very overwhelming to know you and Grandpa had these the whole time."

"Well why would we not? Lily, no matter what, you are (and will always be) our grandchild, and we will always support and love you."

My favorite picture was of Dad and I as a baby, I was asleep in his arms and he was looking down at me. I spotted the faint bruising that covered one side of his jaw, over the bridge of his nose and under his eyes. Spotting his injuries had made me wince slightly, from the look of things I could have only been a month old (maybe younger), but the evidence of his last fight was still clear on his face.

I lifted the frame to inspect it closer. He looked so young, yet no different at the same time. "How long was Dad recovering for?"

"Ooh..." Grandma thought back, "from what I remember, it took a few months before his injuries had completely healed. Why do you ask?"

"I don't know..." I laughed lightly, "incase I have to go through the same thing?"

"I pray every night that you don't. Whenever your father had a scheduled fight I would be sick with worry for days beforehand; I never could watch an entire match."

"Really?" I guess she wouldn't join me for one of my matches then.

"Absolutely. You'll understand my worry one day, when you have children of you own."

I laughed at Grandma's words - children were not something I was thinking of just yet. I walked around the room to look at more things in detail and came across two more photo frames, larger than the ones above the fire place. One was of Auntie Rose in her graduation gown holding a diploma, with Grandma and Grandpa standing proudly either side of her. The other was of Dad after he won State Champion. The words '_Edward 'The Bruiser' Cullen' _had been printed on a banner behind him. Dad was standing in the ring with his belt around his waist.

"Two completely different photos, yet both are of my children's biggest achievements."

"When I become State Champion, will you put my photo there too?" I joked.

With a smirk Grandma moved both frames to the side slightly, "there," she said, motioning towards the space in between, "that spot is for your biggest accomplishment."

_0-0_

**BELLA**

_"Alice Whitlock."_

"Alice, it's Isabella Swan - assistant to -."

_"Oh, Bella. Why the formal introduction?" _ The little pixie giggled down the phone.

"In...case you forgot who I was?"

_"Ha! Like I could forgot you! I don't know anyone else who'd openly fart during a work function."_

Yes... thanks for that reminder, Al'. "Alright, I get the picture. _Anyway, _Mr. Cullen would like to know whether you and Jasper are free to come through to New York sometime soon?"

_"Did he mention a specific date?"_

"He did not, all he said was sometime in the near future."

_"Right," _Alice tutted, _"and do you know why he wants us to come through?"_

"Again, he never said. You know what he's like."

Alice filled the phone with her high-pitched laughter, _"I sure do! Well, we're busy all of this week, but we could come through for a day or two next Wednesday?"_

I scrolled up Edward's diary on the computer screen until I reached her mentioned date and let out an audible groan at what I saw. "He has a meeting with Michael Newton in the morning..." Again, Alice did nothing but giggle. I don't think anyone actually like that man. "However he will be free by late afternoon."

_"Perfect, I will book that in now. You know I can't say no to New York City!"_

"Thank you Alice; I'll let him know and he can phone you back to discuss arrival times, etcetera."

Once we hung up, I answered a few emails and waited until Edward was off the phone himself, before walking through to his office. I had taken my blazer off due to the heat in the office, and I knew exactly how he'd react to my sleeveless blouse - it was a little on the small side, therefore it sat rather snug around my puppies. I was also wearing the skirt he had previously said my ass looked '_fucking incredible' _in. Not that I'm trying to torture the guy or anything... _ha!_

"Boss, Alice and Jasper will be arriving next Wednesday for whatever it is you need them for."

Edward looked up from his paperwork to smile at me, "that's perfect, thank you Bella."

"Will you tell me why they are coming?"

Edward thought for a second, and clicked his pen a few times. "Let me get a few things set straight first, then I will."

"What do you need to set straight?" I was not losing this battle. I hated being left in the dark.

"Oh, good one, Love!"

_Fine, if that's the way he wants to play it. _"Come on..." I sauntered over, added a subtle swing to my hips. "You can tell me..." My arm lazily slipped over his broad shoulders, and as I leaned into him, my tits rubbed against his upper arm. Right where I wanted them.

"Bella..." I noticed the clearing of this throat. One hand then brushed down his chest, just to make things that bit hotter.

"I'm going to find out anyway. Why not know now?"

"Fine. You want to know?" I stood up from straight again. My job was done. Or, my tits job was done.

"Yes. It's just a meeting with Alice and Jasper - why so secretive?"

"You really want to know?"

_Oh for fuck's sake. Give me strength._

_"Yes, _I really want to know."

Edward sat up straight in his chair and looked at me with a straight face. "I'm thinking of asking Alice to take over my job here at B&amp;C."

For a few seconds all I could do was blink. I didn't quite know what to say, so I just muttered out a "...what?" That was the last thing I ever imagined him saying. "Are you serious?"

"Very much so. Well... maybe. I need to get things set straight, remember?"

_Yeah, so not time for your jokes, Assward. _

"But... where are you going? Why are you leaving?"

A wash of uneasy emotion came over me, my throat began to sting which meant I was close to tears. What if he wants to move states? He'd take Lily with him, and maybe Siobhan too. I'd be all on my own.

"I'm not going anywhere; I'm staying in New York."

_Then... what? _"But you're leaving B&amp;C?"

Edward clearly noticed how his words had affected me, he stood from the seat and placed a gentle hand on my shoulder. "Not necessarily."

I was close to blowing a fuse. His answers were driving me insane. "What does that mean? What does any of that mean? I need proper answers now, Edward - none of this vague bullshit."

"All the training I've been doing with Lily has made me think. Why did I quit? Why did I say goodbye to boxing when I worked so hard to get to that level?"

"Why did you say goodbye? Maybe for the fact that you nearly _fucking died?!"_

"Bell, I broke my jaw and nose. Not my neck."

I rolled my eyes so hard, they nearly fell out of my damn head. "Oh, in that case shove on a band aid and you'll be as right as rain."

"I'm being serious, love. What's stopping me?"

_There's a lengthy list._

"This is stupid, Boss."

Edward closed his eyes and sighed lightly, "Bella, I'm going back in that ring."

"And what, I'm supposed to stand at the side and watch you and Lily get beaten up in the ring? No fucking thank you, Sir."

He pulled me to his chest for a needed hug, "no-one is making you stay and witness that, love."

"I don't have an option anymore." I could feel his heartbeat through his chest, and the warmth he radiated was extremely comforting to me. "Just know that I will slowly torture anyone that hurts you, or Lil'."

Edward's chest jiggled as he laughed, "Christ, I should probably forewarn them."

"Just don't keep me out the loop, please."

He placed a sweet kiss on the top of my head, "I won't. Y'know this might not happen. And if it does... well, nothing is going to change, Bella. The only difference will be you no longer wiping my ass."

"But what if I like wiping your ass?"

It's funny how much you enjoy something when there is a chance it might change.

_0-0_

***Gasp*! Is Bossman putting his gloves back on? Is Alice the new CEO? What the fuck is going on?! Guess we'll need to wait and see...**

**For those wanting Bella and Bossman to have a discussion about their recent break etc, that will be in the next chapter. It was going to be this one, but I decided to split this into two.**

**I made a delicious wee collage for this chapter, which can be found on RosieRathbone FanFiction on Facebook. Check it out!**

**Thoughts? **


	23. Renee

**A lot of mixed reviews for that last chapter, which I was expecting. Most were referring to Edward's age and his decision to get back in the ring. He is 35, which isn't old in comparison to other pros, yet he did retire for 15 years... so it's a hard one to work out LOL. **

**CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE**

**BELLA  
**It has been nine days since Bossman let me in on his little secret. For some absurd reason the man feels the need to enter a sport where the whole idea is to beat the crap out of someone._ Sounds fucking insane to me, mate. _However, I have turned my sour attitude towards him into a game. It involves my two best friends (Tit A and Tit B) and an awful lot of figure-hugging outfits. If I can get the man to succumb to my flirting, perhaps I can get him to re-think the whole boxing idea, and get back into his bed at the same time. Result A win-win for Bella. But first I need to up my flirting game.

_Ooh, perhaps I'll wear lace tomorrow... mmm..._

It seems I have a lot on my plate at the moment. First Bossman, and second - my mother.

Yes. Dear, dear Renee Higginbotham Swan Dwyer arrived unannounced last night. I was at home, cuddling up to Angus - standard - when she appears at the door and announces she'll be staying with me for a week.

*crickets*

*tumbleweed*

Yay.

Now don't get me wrong, I love my mother - she was so very supportive when Charlie died, and travelled across the country to help me grieve, but she has a slight problem with alcohol and for the most part, I am often left doing the parenting. According to Renee, this was the week that Phil had to leave for his work travels, so she thought it was only fair to fly over without a seconds warning.

"Oh, Bunny!" Mom pulled me into a tight hug which, I had to admit, felt very comforting. Nothing beats a mother's cuddle. "We are going to have the best week!"

I awkwardly scratched the side of my head, "er... I have to work, Mom." I mean, I really shouldn't feel bad - I had no notice of her arrival. However, she was so excited about spending the time with me... The guilt, man! I cannot deal with it.

"Well that cannot do! Tomorrow morning you will tell Mr. Cullen that you are requesting a week off. I will not take 'no' for an answer."

_You don't wanna mess with Renee Higginbotham Swan Dwyer, guys. _

_This bitch means business._

"He'll probably call me tonight anyway; I'll tell him then."

"Perfect!" Renee's high-pitched outburst sent poor Angus running off to his favorite hiding place - my bed. Mom waved her hands in the air then turned towards my tiny kitchen. "We need to celebrate, Bunny." Mom located a bottle of red wine and two glasses. "Let's get fucked!"

_This is going to be a long week._

_0-0_

As expected, Bossman gave me a nightly phone call just after ten pm. It wasn't a business call, he just wanted to talk. Fucking cute. Oh, and might I add... it had been three hours (give or take) since Momma Dwyer opened the first bottle of wine. To say my mind was hazy was a bit of an understatement.

"Boooss!" I drawled out his name. Couldn't help myself, got it? Angus had recently escaped from his previous hide-away and had settled himself sweetly on my lap.

_"Good evening, Miss Swan." _I identified the humor in his words. He must have known I had had a drink or two. _"Am I interrupting something special?"_

"Nah, I'm just...y'know," I looked down at Angus, "stroking my pussy."

_"Oh, is that, uh..." _Bossman cleared his throat. Dirty fucker. "_...something you do often?"_

"Oh yes! Daily!"

_"Daily?"_

I found it so damn hard to keep the laughter at bay. "I would do it morning, noon and night if I wasn't at work all day."

_"Well, Miss Swan, if you'd like to stroke your pussy at work, I will not be the one to stop you."_

"It's just a shame that Angus isn't allowed in the building, y'know? I'll need to smuggle him in." I lost it then. With one arm over my stomach I let out a bellowing laugh, tears filled my eyes and slowly traced their way down my cheeks. I couldn't tell whether it was the alcohol or my childish sense of humor which caused my reaction. Probably both.

"_Ahem." _Momma not-so-subtly cleared her throat.

I nodded in her direction with a roll of my eyes. "Boss, there was something I needed to put past you, actually. It seems as though I have a new tenant for the week."

_"A what? A tenant?"_

"Yes. You know -someone who..."

_"No - I know what a tenant is, Bella, but I don't understand what you are on about."_

Just spit it out - I told myself - no need to pussy-foot around him. I reached my arm out to grab my glass of wine. I needed that liquid courage. "My mother is staying with me for the week, and I was wondering if it is at all possible to get a couple days off..."

_"Um... I really could have done with a bit of notice here, love." _I could tell that Edward was annoyed. His sigh was heard down the phone; I imagined his hand either rubbing his jaw or yanking at his hair.

"I know, I'm sorry - it was very last minute."

_"Okay, how about this? You come to the office tomorrow morning and we'll discuss it then?" _I agreed, and thanked him profusely. I knew he needed me there this week. _"And bring your mother with you, love. I'd like to meet her."_

And that was how, at 8am the following morning, I was driving myself and Mom to B&amp;C. Renee is not the easiest person to get along with in the morning - it's seldom she's awake at this time, let alone up, dressed, and already starting her day. I think I take after her in that way. If I don't need to get up, I won't.

"Bunny," she gasped as we entered Upper Manhattan. "It's all so... crowded!"

"You've been here before, Mom. You knew it's a busy place."

"Oh, Bella, that was years ago! I can barely remember what I had for dinner last night."

"That's because you didn't have anything for dinner. You were flying and hate plane food, remember?"

"That would be why I don't remember it!"

Renee had always been ditzy, but recently I had started feeling a little concerned. I mean, she's forgetting all these things, and passes them off as nothing. I was sure the amount she drank didn't help the matter, so I made a pact with myself not to give her any more alcohol for the duration of her trip, and mention my concern to the step-father. Phil would have more knowledge than me anyway.

I chose to change the subject. "So hopefully I won't need to be long here, Mom. Maybe we could go shopping afterwards? Get some lunch?"

"Perfect. A real girls day - just you and me." I couldn't help but smile, it had been far too long since we last spent quality time together. What with me living here, and her living in Florida, it isn't easy for us to see each other often.

We made a pit-stop at Starbucks to collect the morning essentials, then continued down the remaining two blocks before arriving at the office block. I found my usual parking slot, which was actually reserved for Edward, but seeing as his driver never leaves the car here, I use it instead. Why let a good thing go to waste, huh?

"So this is where you work..." Mom took in her surroundings as we walked past reception and over to the elevators. "What floor are you on, Bunny?"

"Nineteenth. The top floor." With coffees balanced carefully in our hands, I pressed the code for our level. The metal doors closed automatically.

"I see, and why the need for separate codes?"

"Unless you are a member of staff, you can only access up to floor sixteen - the top three levels are for the CEO's, etc."

"And that is your job."

I couldn't tell whether that was a question, or a statement, so I answered her anyway. "Yes - we have two CEO's here, and I am the PA for one of them."

After a few short minutes, we had arrived. We had barely walked through my office before Edward appeared from his section. The first thing I noticed was the crisp, grey suit he wore - sans tie - and how that, mixed with a rough stubble, made my girly bits react.

_Ooh, Bossman, you've stepped up your game today, Sir._

"Good morning, Miss Swan," he cupped my shoulder, then subtly moved his hand so it drifted softly down my back.

"Boss, this is my mother - Renee Dwyer. Mom, this is my Bossman - Edward Cullen."

Edward put on the Cullen charm as he touched her upper arm then leant in to kiss her cheek. "Mrs. Dwyer, it's wonderful to meet you."

"Oh please, call me Renee." She turned to me, "Bunny, you never told me he was such a looker!"

I shrugged and mumbled a simple, "that's cause he isn't."

Edward smirked at my bullshit, then got back down to business. "I won't keep you here, Bella, all I ask is that you set up my meeting with Mr. Newton, and sort out any emails. Mrs. Dwyer, please, help yourself to whatever you need."

It felt like a take-your-child-to-work day, except the child was actually my mother.

_0-0_

One hour later and I had received a call from the front desk to say that Mr. Newton had arrived. That gave me no more than five minutes to start the filter coffee and place any necessary pens or papers on their desk.

"Edward?" I peered around the glass door, Boss was typing around speedily on his computer keyboard. He had slipped off his suit jacket from the heat outside and I don't think I'd ever get over how he looked in just a thin cotton shirt. He clicked around with something on screen before turning his attention to me. "That is Mr. Newton on his way up." I informed him.

"Thank you, Bella." He rolled back from his desk, then stood to walk over, "I appreciate you coming in this morning - you enjoy the day with your Mom."

"Are you sure? I can stay until after the meeting if you'd like?"

A heartfelt smile formed on his perfect features, "I think I can manage. If you could just let Rosalie know, so all calls will be transferred to her until we finish." I nodded with a smile. "One last thing," he added just before I left the room, "Alice and Jasper are coming over for dinner tonight, and I'd know they'd love you to be there... I would too."

"Oh, I'd love too... but I can't leave Renee all night with only Angus for company..." _I'd already need to leave her for work most days._

"Renee is more than welcome to join us, Bella."

The elevator doors pinged just as I went to respond. "Can I let you know? I'll call you later." I rushed and barely waited for his response before running out to greet Mr. Newton.

"Isabella," he drawled in his strong southern accent. Now, usually I go weak at the fucking knees at any Southern man, but with Michael Newton I don't exactly have that reaction.

"Mr. Newton, how was your flight?"

_Not that I really give a fuck, but I have to kiss his ass. Unfortunately._

"It was just fine, thank you. I suppose Mr. Cullen is ready?"

"He is. This way, please." I held out my arm in direction to Edward's office. The two gentleman met each other in a civil manner, then took their seats. "Can I offer either of you a refreshment?"

"A coffee please, Isabella."

"Surprise me," Mr. Newton winked, I had to hold back my gag. For simplicity I also gave him a coffee, and was very tempted to spit right into his mug, but then remembered I was 29, not 9.

"Here you go, Sir," I placed down their mugs and a tray that held sugar, milk - the essentials. "Please let me know if you need anything."

Edward smiled up at me, "we'll be fine, Isabella. Enjoy your day, and I'll see you later, yes?"

"Yes. Mr. Newton, it was great to see you again. Enjoy your trip." God, the bullshit only continued to spill from my mouth.

"Leaving me already, Isabella?" He had the nerve to wink and raise his eyebrows in an attempt to be flirtatious. "Maybe Edward should offer you some vacation time, you could check out the Houston business?"

My laugh was so Goddamn fake, I was actually quite proud of my acting skills. "I'll need to keep that in mind."

When it actual fact, what I wanted to say was: _'over my dead body, you slimy motherfucker.'_

_0-0_

"I feel like Marilyn Monroe!" Mom beamed up at the buildings that shadowed over us. "Bella, where is the nearest steam grate? I need to reenact that picture."

"Look around, Momma," I smiled, "there are grates everywhere." We battled our way through the ever-growing crowds along Times Square, and followed the various billboards advertising all the many different Broadway shows. I asked if there were any stores she wanted to go in, or anything she wanted to do in particular.

"Bunny, I could go shopping any day of the week, but it's not every day I get to witness these sights and sounds! See a live show, Central Park, the Empire State; I want to see it all!"

We took a seat on the TKTS red bleachers to think about our next move. I suggested walking back to B&amp;C then taking my car to Central Park where we could walk around and grab some lunch. Renee was more than happy to go with that plan, so we sat for another five minutes before starting off.

As I had imagined, the grassy land and stone paths were riddled with people. Growing up in a small town, it took me a while to get used to living in such a busy area, but I was getting used to it. I don't do well with the public normally - especially customers that get a kick out of being awkward. Fuckers.

We passed performers, showing off their talents with music, dancing, and circus skills. I was impressed - I can barely catch a ball when it's thrown to me, let alone juggle five different objects at the same time. Juggling is some crazy ass shit.

"So how long have you been dating Mr. Cullen?"

I was taken by complete surprise at Mom's question that it made me cough up the soda I was in the process of swallowing. "Momma, I'm not dating anyone."

"Then how long have you been _with _him?"

_Better off admitting it, girl. _"Is it that obvious?"

"Oh, Bunny," she wrapped her arm around my shoulders and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I could tell, just from the way he looked at ya that it is more than just a business relationship you two share."

"We've always been like that, Momma; it's just the way we are."

"Bella, I wasn't born yesterday. Now, tell me what is _really _going on."

I played with the chewed-at straw pierced through the lid of my soda cup. "It hasn't been going on for long. In fact we decided to 'take a break' recently for... different reasons."

"Take a break? Bunny, when does that ever work?"

"Hey, it felt like the right thing to do!"

Mom was quiet for a little while, "and how do you feel now?"

I hated talking about my feelings, it always made me nervous. Especially to my parents. "I... uh... I'm not sure." She didn't say a word until I had found the courage to speak again. "I miss... how we used to be..."

For someone that had a tough exterior, I was damn vulnerable in the middle. It often looks like I couldn't give a shit, but when shit gets personal, that changes.

"What do you miss? Start from the beginning, Bunny."

We had found a lone bench to sit on, my fingers had left the straw alone and now worked on destroying the polystyrene cup. "It started a month or two ago - nothing serious, just the occasional meet and greet... then because of... um -."

"Personal reasons." Mom filled in the blanks.

"Yes, because of that we had an argument and I suggested this break. I thought it was the right thing to do - Edward and I were both preoccupied, it made sense. Now we have that chance to do it again..."

"But there's something stopping it again?"

I looked up at with a frown. For someone pretty ditzy, she was pretty fucking smart. "How do you know that?"

"Because you're my daughter, Bella," she grasped my hand in hers, "and I can tell from the way you're acting, that it doesn't end there."

"No - well, I don't know; we haven't spoken about it yet. But did I tell you how Edward used to be a boxer?" I knew we had talked about it before, but from her confusion I knew she didn't remember. "Well anyway, he retired from the sport some years ago, but he told me last week that he's thinking about getting back into it, and I don't like the idea of that."

"Why? Because it's dangerous? His daughter boxes too, right? Lillian?"

_How the hell does she remember that, but not what she had for dinner?_

"Um, yes. I am very protective of Lily and watching her in the ring is bad enough, let alone Edward too."

Mom's lips curved up in a smile, "I think the answer is right there in front of you, Bunny."

"My answer for what?"

"For how you feel and what you should do."

"Pray tell, Mystic Meg. What does your magic ball say?"

"It is clear to see that you care for him - more than you might wish to accept - hence why you are scared of his new idea. Bunny, throughout the years I have leant to go along with whatever ridiculous plan Phil came up with, and the same with your father."

My chest made a strange tugging feeling, it always did when Charlie came up in conversation.

"I remember, before you were born, Charlie and his friend Harry wanted to go on some trip up Mount Rainier. Neither of them have experience with hill climbing, so of course I freaked out, but, just like you, Charlie was a stubborn old fart and they didn't listen to what I thought. They got half-way, realized they wouldn't get much further, and turned back again."

I laughed softly whilst slyly wiping a tear from my eye. That sounded like Charlie and Harry.

"What I'm trying to say, Bella, is Edward may have this idea in his head that he's going to get back in the ring and be just as good as he was, but he'd need to realize for himself if things aren't going to work out. Don't stress over making him change his mind."

"I guess so, but what if he breaks his fucking neck before he gets to that realization!"

"Don't let the '_what if's_ scare you. If you want to continue on with whatever it was that you two shared, don't let anything stop you. Life is too short."

_Damn you, Momma. You can't go and pull out that cheesy crap. _

"What do I do then?"

"Tonight, when we go over for dinner, you will talk to him and tell him how you feel. That you are scared about the boxing and would like him to reconsider, but most importantly that you want to forget your 'break' ever happened."

Mom was right, if Bossman was going to make the first move, I had to find the balls to do so.

_Just call me Ballsy Bella._

_Or... don't, 'cause that just sounds fucking stupid._

"And Bunny, I don't blame ya," I turned my head back to look at Mom. "Ooft, if I was ten years younger... he wouldn't be saying no to me."

_Ew, gross._

_0-0_

**So... that's Momma Dwyer for ya. What did you think about her advice? **

**I am going to be posting the banner for my next story over on Facebook when the group reaches 500 members! We just need 15 more members, so if you haven't joined, head on over to RosieRathbone FanFiction if you want to be one of the first people to see it! A wee teaser of the chapter may be included, too, if I'm feeling kind ;) **

**Apart from that, what are you thoughts on that chapter?**

**x **


	24. Batman and Robin

**Wee warning - this chapter deals with a sensitive subject. **

**CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR**

**BELLA**

It scares me how you could go the majority of your life with your eyes closed. Like you had been living a lie until the moment you opened your eyes and saw the truth; the bigger picture.

I think my Mom is sick. Not like '_I'll bring you chicken soup and Kleenex' _sick, I mean... mentally sick. And that fucking scares me. How did I go this far in life and not notice any signs or symptoms until today? How could I blame the amount she drank, when it had been something much bigger all along? I spent all afternoon researching Dementia and Alzheimers, and I didn't want to believe a word of it, until the moment we were about to leave for Bossman Manor.

"Are you ready, Mom?" I asked as I stood at the front door with my car keys in hand.

"Yep... I just..." Renee raked through her purse, looking for something. "I can't find my cell phone... I'm sure I put it in here..."

"Let me call it." Within a few seconds a faint tune was heard coming from the kitchen. There was no sign of the damn thing, until I followed the noise over to the fridge and saw the black rectangle slotted under an orange in the fruit bowl. I held the phone in my hand as it continued to ring, trying to make some sense of the whole situation. _It was in the fruit bowl! What the hell?!_

"Oh, you found it. Thank you, Bunny."

I handed it over hesitantly, "it was in the fruit bowl, Mom..."

"Oh, yes, that is quite normal."

_Quite normal? When is that ever 'quite normal'? _"Does... this happen often?"

"Occasionally," she waved it off like it wasn't a big deal, "y'know, Phil would find the car keys in the fridge... little things like that."

"And does Phil say anything about it?" _Why hadn't Phil told me? I mean, I know we don't have the closest relationship, but surely I have the right to know. What an asshole._

"No - he doesn't like to make a fuss. He's very good that way; not complaining about the little things."

Again with the little things! They may have seemed like little things, but they were the start of much larger things. If I wasn't the designated driver for the evening I would have quite happily started on the wine. I decided then to leave the conversation before I blew a fuse and mentioned it was time to leave. However, the problem at hand appeared again the moment I started the engine.

"Where is it we're going again, Bunny?" She asked it so innocently, it made me want to cry. I squeezed the wheel with both hands and bit down on my lip in attempt to calm the tears that threatened to fall.

"We're going to Mr. Cullen's house for dinner with his daughter and two other colleagues."

"Oh yes, I remember now."

The actual drive to Bossman Manor was fine - Mom was too interested in the surrounding scenery, which allowed me the time to calm down again, and I knew that once we arrived there would be other people there to help. Siobhan told me a while ago that she knew someone who suffered with the same problem, and so I hoped she could offer me a few words of advice.

Once we had arrived I decided to mention where we were one more time, just in case. "So this is Mr. Cullen's house. He lives here with his daughter, and their housemaid, Siobhan."

"What a beautiful house. Lillian is so lucky to grow up here! And the other people joining us tonight, who are they?"

I parked next to a shiny black Mercedes. "Their names are Alice and Jasper Whitlock - they own the offices in Chicago. They are both very nice, you'll like them."

"Well, like I always say, _any friend of yours is a friend of mine!"_

_When do you ever say that? Meh, oh well._

Lily had the doors open before we reached it, and was in my arms within a second. When she stepped back, I noticed the white tank top with a floral cross in the middle, and a pair of jean short-shorts that she wore. _Hmm, cute outfit. _"Hey Bella!"

"Hey Kid, how you doin'?"

"I'm good," she smiled her toothy grin then turned her attention to Renee, "Momma Dwyer, I'm Lily; it's nice to meet you."

"You are the spitting image of your father, Lily!" Renee crouched slightly and all but pulled Lily into her arms.

"Um... yes, I've heard that."

Speak of the devil, and he shall appear - Edward was standing in the hall when the three of us entered. "Isabella," he nodded with a grin, "Mrs. Dwyer, how was your trip to the city?"

"Wonderful! It was a beautiful day with my baby girl." _Mom... please... don't. _"Talking about baby girls, um..." Renee scratched her forehead her head and clicked her fingers in thought, "Oh, um..."

"Lily."

"Yes! Thank you, Bunny. Lily is a lovely girl, Mr. Cullen."

"That she is," he put a proud hand on Kid's shoulder, "she's also a lovely girl who is going to get changed now, right, Lil'?"

"Oh, _Daddy! _They are only shorts._"_

"Don't '_Daddy' _me, and don't argue with me on this. Now, get changed."

As much as Lily seemed to act annoyed at Edward's overprotectiveness, I caught her sly smile as she ran up the stairs, which told me she loved it, and it wouldn't surprise me if she wore those shorts for that exact reason.

Alice and Jasper arrived shortly after, they greeted me like we were the best of friends reuniting after some time apart. Alice even squealed like a damn banshee as she threw her little arms around me - I copied the squeal, because I didn't know what else to do. However it was nice to see them again - we may have only met briefly that first time, but the newlyweds had made an impact on us.

"Now," Alice gave me a pointed look, "I hope you stay off the wine tonight, Bella." I knew she was joking, but even so _is she ever going let me forget it?_

"Wine?" Renee perked up as her eyes caught onto the word, "yes, where is the wine? It isn't a meal without it."

"Mrs. Dwyer," Alice's voice had changed to a now very polite tone, "my name is Alice Whitlock, and may I just say... I think you and I are going to be great friends. You like wine, I like wine - the perfect friendship."

As the two ladies got to know each other, I snuck into the kitchen where Siobhan was slaving over the evening meal, I simply told her not to refill Mom's glass whenever she requested it, and to check with me first. I hated acting like the parent, but it was for her own good. And my own sanity.

0-0

We all settled in the living room, where Alice, Jasper, Edward and I discussed work briefly and penciled in plans for the up-coming months with it all dependent on whether Edward decides to step down or not, before we pushed it to the side and focussed on life outside the office. Yet, no matter how much you try and stay clear of the subject, you always fall back to that.

"My sister, Cynthia, has just been informed that she'll take over from Jamie on reception when he leaves in the next few weeks," Alice laughed lightly at the thought in her head, "bless her, she's absolutely terrified." Edward and I laughed and 'aww'ed along with Alice, who then explained the situation to Lily and Renee as they didn't understand what the big deal was. "My sister is nineteen; this is her first ever job and having our father in charge is not the easiest thing to live with."

"Nineteen..." Mom gazed off, "I remember when I was that age - why, Bella you were already three years old!"

"Was it hard, Momma Dwyer?" Lily asked across the room, "having a baby so young, I mean."

"It was challenging, yes, but so very rewarding."

_Can stress cause early on-set dementia? Am I the reason she's like this now, because she had the stress of being a mother at sixteen? _

"Yes," Lily responded, "I know I wouldn't be ready. I haven't even dated a boy!" I glanced over at Edward, he was in mid-tug of his collar. That conversation was not one he wished to hear.

"Oh, there's no rush in dating!" Renee was quick to add. "Bella didn't have her boyfriend till she was seventeen, did you Bunny? And a horrible thing he was too! I never liked Freddie." According to the sniggers, I was the only person who didn't find that amusing.

"Bunny," Mom spoke up again, "who is it you are dating again?" Mom had a blank look on her face, she looked past me "Edward, do you know who I am talking about?"

Everyone in the room held back their laughter, apart from me. I held back my sobs. She remembered the name of someone I had a fling with over ten years ago, but not what we discussed ten hours ago. My eyes began to well.

"Yes," Edward answered politely, "I know him quite well."

I didn't blame them for their reactions; they didn't know, and had the situation been different I would have laughed too. But I couldn't take it. Right now she's repeating a few questions and forgetting names, but soon she's going to forget a lot more than that. She'll forget me and... I don't know what I will do when that moment comes.

It became too much, I needed the time alone to think. "Mom," I announced, standing from my seat, "why don't you embarrass me by telling childhood stories, yeah? I'll be back in a minute." I brushed the lone tear off my cheek and left the room, Siobhan held out her hand in comfort but I ignored her care and continued to walk. In the background, coming from the living room, I heard Renee's laugh as she told some detailed story. I found shelter in Edward's office, where it was quiet and I had some space to think.

My Mom has always been there for me, through every up and down. I knew one day would come when... that changes, but I never imagined it to be now, before she's even fifty years old. And what upset me the most was I don't think she knew it was going on. This thing was rapidly taking over her brain, yet she has no knowledge of it.

"Bella?" Edward peered around his office door, "are you okay?"

"Yeah," I pulled my feet up under my butt, "I just need some time to myself."

Bossman wandered over and sat down beside me, "I've been told I'm a good listener, if you need to talk to someone?"

I thought about it for a second, and came to the decision that I needed to tell someone. "I... I think my Mom has dementia." Edward didn't say a word. "I mean, I'm no doctor and Google searches tend to make a mountain out of a mole hill, but everything adds up."

"What have you seen to make you think that?"

"She misplaces things, forgets names and places, I need to repeat myself over and over, and a few weeks ago she forgot what day it was. I cannot remember how many times I had to remind her where we were going tonight and who we were seeing." It amazed me how much pressure lifted up off my shoulders after simply saying that. "I used to think she drank too much, but now I'm thinking it's something else."

"Well the drinking won't help. You know that, right?"

"Yeah, I know. I'm trying to put a cap on that whilst she is here." Again, the quiet set in, and this time it only seemed to work my emotions up more. It may have something to do with the way he took my hand in his - a silent '_I'm here' _gesture which caused another round of tears. "I'm really scared, Boss."

Edward scooted tighter next to me and slipped his arm around my shoulders. "I know."

"I've already lost my Dad, I can't lose my Mom as well."

"Bella..." I felt the kiss that he brushed on my forehead, "no matter what happens, I'll be here, okay? I'll help you through it."

"But what happens when it's me?!" I cried, jolting out of his arms to wipe the fierce tears off my cheeks, "this thing is genetic, which means I'll get it too... and... one day you and Lily could walk into a room and I won't know who you are..."

"Not necessarily; there is a high chance that you won't have inherited it, and if you are really that worried then there is a test you can take. But you need to focus on finding your mom some help, that is all that matters just now."

Before we could say anything else, there was a small knock at the door and Lily stepped into the room. "Er, Siobhan wanted me to tell you that dinner is ready."

"Thanks, Lil'." I heard the smile in his words. "We'll be through in a minute."

"Okay." Lily crossed her arms and gave her father and I a stern look, "and when we are done with dinner we are going to have a talk. When were you going to tell me about the argument, huh?"

_Fuck's sake, can I not get a minutes peace?_

I turned my head to Edward, "she clearly inherited your feistiness, Christ."

0-0

Dinner was lovely, Momma Bear had outdone herself making a mouthwatering roast chicken dish with all the trimmings, and a mixed berry cobbler for dessert. It was like I had died and gone to heaven - damn it was good. We talked about this, we talked about that, and for the first time that day I was able to relax and enjoy myself without the continuous worry on my mind.

Lily had been told about Edward's ridiculous idea to step down and have Alice take over, and it turned out that the little shit did not take my side, and, in fact, supported her father one hundred percent.

"Think about all the fun we could have Bella!" Alice beamed, "if you were my PA we could sit around, talk about boys..."

"Do you wanna paint my nails and drink hot cocoa too? Maybe stay up past our bedtimes?" _This isn't some damn fucking slumber party, love. _"But all jokes aside, Alice, that does sound good."

"However..." Alice could sense all too clearly I wasn't finished there.

"I just..." For distraction I flattened the bowl of the spoon through the remaining cream from my cobbler. "I need more time to think about this - I don't know how I feel about it all yet."

"Remember what I said, Bunny," Mom looked at me from across the table, "Charlie needed to realize for himself..."

_I know, I know. Edward needs to realize too._

But that doesn't mean that I cannot worry and fear for the day I get a phone call from the hospital to say that his stupid sport as left him permanently paralyzed.

After coffees had been served and business dealt with, Alice and Jasper made their leave, they mentioned an early flight the next morning, but we all promised to get back in contact soon. Siobhan had clearly caught onto the subtle hints and understood Bossman and I needed to talk, so she, bless her soul, distracted Renee to allow us the space and privacy.

That was the moment I regretted my offer to be a designated driver, 'cause I needed that liquid confidence all of a sudden.

0-0

"So," Lily stood before Edward and I, from her expression alone I knew she wasn't going to take any of our shit. "According to Grandma, you were acting like two little children when I was away. Is that true?"

_Everyone rise for Judge fucking Judy over here, guys._

"We may have had a small falling out, but that is nothing you need to worry about, and for Bella and I to sort out."

Kid snorted, "and you did a crap job at that, Dad. So seeing as you guys are thicker than two short planks, I'm going to be your mediator and we won't leave this room until the situation has been sorted. Am I clear?"

I smirked and shot Lily a two-fingered salute, "crystal."

After a little more persuasion, Edward started to say how it began. Or, how he thought it began. "Bella, you wanted to _'take a break' _ when it looked like too much to handle all at once."

_Excuse me? Are you remembering the same thing here? _"Er, no Edward," there was a sharp tone in my voice, "I offered to help you and we both tried our best to get through work as normal, but you shut me out."

"Shut you out?" He copied. "I never -."

"Yes you did!"

"Okay!" Lily bellowed. It caught both our attention. "Clearly this conversation should have happened a long time ago. So you decided to take a break...?"

"Yes," I answered, "it was to get our priorities in check and focus on what was important."

"But you _are _important," Edward urged, "you know that."

I rolled my eyes at his expression, "oh don't give me that wounded look. Lily was our priority and you cannot say you didn't shut me out, because mark my fucking words, you did. You, Mr. Bossman, treated me like nothing more than your damn assistant, and not once did you offer me any sort of comfort."

"Oh, for God's sake, Bella. You _are _my assistant. That is exactly what I hired you for."

"So what you are saying, Dad, is your relationship is different inside and outside the office?" If Lily didn't continue her boxing career I could totally see her doing couples therapy in the future.

"Of course it is."

"Well this is the first I've heard about that. You have never acted any differently. You are Dad and Bella - you're a team inside the office and outside! It's like Batman and Robin; or maybe in this scenario you should call yourself Dumb and Dumber, but you know what I mean."

_If we are Dumb and Dumber then can I call dibs on Jeff Daniels? That fucking dog van was my childhood. _

_Plus, Edward and Lloyd are practically two peas in a little tiny pod. Must be the hair._

"In that case then," I wiggled my butt to sit up straighter on the couch, "from now on all the flirting, silly remarks and inappropriate touches stops from the second we enter that building. You'll be Mr. Cullen and I'll be Isabella. Is that what you want?" I tried so hard not to laugh, so I grinned instead.

"Wha-? I, uh..." I had rendered him speechless, and it was the greatest damn feeling.

"That is that I thought." Lily turned on her foot to walk to and fro in front of us. This therapist crap had really gotten to her damn head. "In conclusion to this, it is clear to see that Dad (despite what he said) does not want whatever it is you two shared to end, whether you are at work or at home. So Bella, what are your views?"

"Um..." _All I have to say is I feel the same way, but why is that so hard to do? _

"Lil'," Edward put his hand on my arm when he stood from the couch, "we really appreciate your help, but I think it's best Bella and I talk alone for a while."

Kid thought over her father's words for a second, "okay, but if I hear any screaming I'm coming straight back in here."

The immature child in me sniggered, "just make sure you know it's screams of anger..."

"Oh, Christ!" Lily covered her ears and shook her head wildly to the side whilst Edward and I laughed along with each other. "No, no, I don't need those images!" She ran from the room without a seconds hesitation.

When I no longer had her hawk eyes staring at me, I felt a little more relaxed and less intimidated.

"Is that better?" He asked, to which I nodded in response. "Alright, so how do you feel?" He had taken his seat back next to me and his voice was so calm and soothing.

"I... um... I didn't want it to end - I _don't _want it to end. But do you understand why that break was important?"

"Yes," he paused, "I understand that it was important at the time, but I'm pretty sure that period is over now... Am I right?"

Edward's eyes met mine in an intense gaze. I almost started laughing, because I always failed at keeping a straight face in serious situations.

"Yes," I spoke once I had controlled my immaturity, "that wouldn't be the worst thing in the world."

"That was all you had to say, Love." Bossman leaned in closer, like I was gonna drop my panties right there and succumb to his hypnotic stare. Well, alright, I happily would have done, but we weren't finished yet.

"There will be rules, Boss."

"Rules?" He leaned back and sat up straighter.

"Yes. For example - we keep all flirting down to a minimum at work. We still have an important job to do, remember. No matter how inviting that elevator may look, it has cameras."

"But... that has always been a rule."

_Oh for crying out loud! He sure isn't making this any easier. _Instead of trying to explain myself, I mentioned another rule instead. "We cannot shut each other out anymore - if something is bothering me I need to be open and let you in - and vice versa. We need to treat each other equally."

"I one-hundred percent agree with that," Bossman grinned, kissing my cheek.

"And my last one (for now) is be nicer to Angus, yeah? Him and I are a package deal - you want me to stay for the weekend, you'll need to accept him there too."

"So all I need to do is make sure we talk more and learn to respect your cat?" Edward stretched out over the back of the couch so that his arm draped over my shoulders and one hand softly stroked my upper arm. "I think I can do that."

His sweet, delicate smile reminded me of one other point. "Can I ask for one more thing?"

"Of course you can."

I took a deep breath and then looked up into his eyes. "If you do go back in that ring, can you promise you'll always come back to me?"

Edward must have caught onto the vulnerability in my voice because the next thing I know he was cupping my cheeks and planting a kiss on my forehead. "I can promise you that I'll do whatever it damn takes. You and Lily are what matter the most nowadays."

0-0

**Finally! Their childish behavior has been annoying me so friggin' much. Hahah who else was fed up with their 'look but no touching' attitude?**

**A few of you had mentioned what they thought was wrong with Renee, and yes, you were right. **

**Thanks for reading, **

**Thoughts?**


	25. Rye Country Day School

**CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE**

**BELLA**

Things had been... interesting since my realization about Renee two days previous. I started seeing everything she did in a new light. Even the smallest thing like putting a drink down and forgetting where she'd put it - before I would have passed that off as nothing, I mean, how many times do _I _forget where I've put something? _All the fucking time. _But I felt differently about it in this scenario. How did I know whether that was a simple moment of forgetfulness, or the sign that... that... that her brain was slowly eroding away into nothing.

That was the hardest to wrap my head around. That, and the fact that things were going to get a lot harder. She'd forget people, places and herself. Me included. I was no idiot; I had seen the damage Alzheimers could cause - from hearing stories and watching characters battle it on television programs and in movies, and I knew what was instal for me. Yet I still had the tiniest glimmer of hope, hope that, perhaps, Mom won't deteriorate as much as they did. That, with the help of medication and skilled people, she could fight this. We all could fight this.

However, I knew that was not the case.

I was wide awake at 5:30 Friday morning. Angus had curled himself up against my side which was something he seldom did. Maybe he had sensed I needed the comfort. I lay there for an additional twenty minutes trying to force myself back to sleep, but no avail. I decided to get up, re-tie my hair into a messy knot on the top of my head, visit the bathroom and make myself some breakfast. I stopped halfway to the kitchen before turning back on my steps to collect my phone. Even though I wasn't in the office, I still had work to do.

That brings me onto another thing. Edward had been... _amazing _the last couple days. That night we had our heart-to-heart and I had admitted to him my worries about Mom, he insisted that I stayed home for the remaining days of Mom's stay. Like I said, I can work through my phone and/or laptop, and if I was finding it too hard to juggle all I had to do was say and he'd find me a temporary replacement. See? Amazing.

For a good forty minutes I sat in my kitchen, eating bowls of Cocoa Pebbles (because I'm secretly ten years old) and worked my way through the emails I never had time to do the night before. There wasn't a shit load to go through - various customers wishing to finalize their plans and other co-workers from around the country asking me to make appointments to see Edward - but it was enough to distract me.

"Good morning, Bunny." Mom spooked me when she walked into the kitchen. It seemed we were all early risers that morning.

"Good morning. Did you sleep well?"

She helped herself to a mug of freshly-brewed coffee and slotted some bread into my toaster. "Oh, like a _dream! _And... what is this?" Renee gave me a pointed look, "are you working again? I swear, you and Mr. Cullen never stop to take a breath."

Oh yeah, that was something else I had picked up on. I had seen so many different aspects to her in such a short space of time, one including how, for a brief moment, it could seem like the illness had vanished over night.

"Yeah," I laughed and shook the depressing, wishful thinking from my head, "it is a very time-demanding job."

Just as I took a mouthful of coffee, my phone became alive in my hand. I excused myself from the kitchen as I answered Edward's call. "Good morning." I smiled.

_"Good morning, Isabella. I didn't wake you up, did I?"_

"No-no; I was already awake." I had forgotten that the time was barely 7am.

_"Okay, good. So..." _he paused slightly in his speech, _"can I ask a favor of you?"_

"Um... sure." It wasn't often that he asked me for a favor, usually he would mention his request and it is my job to follow through with it no questions asked. It could have been because I was technically off work, but that still didn't stop me from wondering.

_"I'm taking Lily to visit a school this morning, and I would love for you to accompany us - give us your views on it." _

My heart and stomach did a funny little flippy thing when he spoke his request, but I couldn't work out why. I had joined them for a countless number of occasions - visiting the boxing club, her birthday to Philly, and even flying off to Seattle to bring her back again. Yet this time it felt different, maybe it was due to the conversation Boss and I had the other night; our stubborn minds had been pulled from our rear ends and we both understand that we wanted to make this work. We wanted to be a team.

"I'd love to, Boss... however I don't want to leave Mom on her own all day..."

_"Don't worry, I thought about that too. I've asked Siobhan to head on over and take your place. They seemed to get along very well. It would give you a break, too - you can take this time to relax."_

Again with the flippy thing. Edward had put much thought into this and had even thought about Renee and came up with a solution for that.

"Thank you," I said genuinely, "in that case I'd love to come with you."

_"Brilliant. Well, Siobhan will be with you for around 8 o'clock if you could be ready to leave shortly after that?"_

"No problem, see you shortly."

Once our call had ended I went back through to tell Renee the sudden change of plans. I reminded her again who Siobhan was and that she would be here soon.

"The lovely lady who made our meal?"

"Yes!" I said a little too over-excitedly - she had forgotten who Edward was in the space of a day, so remembering Siobhan after two days must have been some improvement, right? Or, then again, maybe I was getting my hopes raised too high. "She's going to look after you whilst I'm away."

I shouldn't have said _'look after' _I regretted my words the moment they were said.

"Bella, I'm not a child - I'm sure I can take care of my self for one day..."

"I'm sorry, Mom; I didn't mean to say that. What I meant to say was Siobhan will be keeping you company - it's not fair to leave you alone all day."

That seemed to work, my slip-up had been covered. I had roughly forty-five minutes to get ready, so downed the last of my coffee and went off to the bathroom for my usual 3 S's routine - a shit, shower and shave. _So damn lady-like._

_0-0_

I drove through the gates of Bossman Manor shortly before 9:15, the gardeners were out and about, mowing the large stretches of land and seeing to all the various plants and bushes. I waved to them politely when I made my way to the front door and let myself in using the spare key Edward gave me years ago. Siobhan had informed me before I left that Edward and Lily were seen going to the gym, so that was where I went to first.

I couldn't hear anything as I made my way down the stairs that lead to the basement gym, so at first I thought that they were no longer in there, but then I heard Edward, praising Lily on something that she had done.

_"That was perfect! You are really getting the hang of this now."_

As I turned into the room, I saw the two of them standing in the middle of the ring. Edward had a jab pad on each hand which Lily practiced on punching. The two were circling each other in a pretend fight - I couldn't make heads or tails of the moves they were performing; her fists moved far too quickly.

"Morning guys!" I announced my arrival which put a stop to their training.

"Hey, Bella!" Lily grinned, "Dad is giving me a quick lesson."

"That's fine," I said as I dropped my bag on the floor and rested my arms on the rope of the ring. "You keep doing what you are doing."

"We won't be long," Edward assured me before he got Lily focused again and they returned to their routine. The time did not bother me in the slightest - they could practice all day if they wanted to and I would still have been happy to stand and watch. There was something special watching them work together. I caught the concentration on her face, as she focused on Edward's hands and made sure to return every hit. Edward's face held the same concentration, but in his eyes I witnessed the love and pride that shined through for his daughter.

He stuck to his words, and not long afterwards, they were pulling off their pads and gloves. "Can you show me now, Dad?" Lily asked as she climbed through the ropes. I didn't know what she was referring to, but whatever it was had made her jiggle with excitement. Edward didn't word a response; he simply nodded, smiled, and headed over to the far-off cupboard. My own interest was piqued - that door had a coded lock to it, which only Edward knew the number for. I had always wondered what he kept in there because he has a cabinet which held all his treasured boxing possessions, so I couldn't work out what was so important not to put it on display.

He walked back out with a thin white box in his hands. There was no writing on any of the sides to indicate what the box held, it was just plain white.

"Wow..." I stole a peek at Lily's eyes to see that they had grown large with amazement. "Can I...?"

"Of course you can." Without another word, Edward lifted off the lid of the box and brought out a bundle of deep blue silk. I still didn't know what it was, until the silk was unfolded into a robe. The robe had a white collar and cuffs with a white band to tie around the middle. On the back, in large block capitals, his name was seen in the same white silk.

_Edward 'The Bruiser' Cullen_

Lily touched the robe so gently, like it was the thinest sheet of paper which would tear without any pressure. Edward helped her slip it on, tied the band and pulled the hood over her head.

"It suits you."

Lily lifted her head and peeked through the material that drowned her, I couldn't recall seeing a smile so large on her face.

"Why do you keep it locked away?" I asked.

Edward looked to me and smirked. "Simple. The things in that cabinet anyone could have - my opponents could have won those belts, and thousands of boxers have those shoes and gloves. But this is one of a kind - nobody else in the world will ever have that robe."

"Oh." _It sounds so obvious now he's said it._

"And Lily?" She looked up again from inspecting the garment, "I want you to have it."

Again her eyes grew to twice the size, "what? No - no, I cannot have this."

"Yes you can."

"B-but... it's yours!"

"Yes, but now I want it to be yours. What good is it locked away, when I know that you would take incredible care of it?"

Kid was speechless, tears welled in her already large eyes, and she stepped forward to throw her arms around her father. "Thank you, Daddy. I promise I will look after it."

With my own heart hurting from the touching moment, I put one hand on his large bicep and raised myself onto tip-toes to kiss his bristled cheek.

"You really can be the sweetest man," I whispered.

_0-0_

The car pulled up into the parking lot of the grand white and terra cotta bricked building - home of the Wildcats. I couldn't see the playing fields from where I sat, but Edward had been saying on the drive here that the entire campus was 26 acres with a full range of facilities for everything that they offer.

We were there to meet Mr. Nelson - the headmaster of Rye Country Day School. Now, I wasn't stupid, I knew what it took and how much notice you needed to give when enrolling a new student, especially at a school like this where the tuition is almost $40,000 (I googled it) so I had a sneaky feeling Edward may have bribed Mr. Nelson with something slightly more convincing. Not only that, but everyone in Rye knew of Edward and his family, and they'd be ridiculous not to accept his bribe.

A receptionist allowed us into the office, where a rather tall, balding man rose from his seat and stepped around the desk to greet us. Bossman shook Mr. Nelson's hand, because this was a business deal.

"Mr. Cullen, thank you for coming today." His white mustache lifted to the side when he smiled. "And you must be Lillian." He turned to the nervous girl beside me.

"Y-yes... It's nice to meet you."

I could understand why she'd be nervous, but from what I could see, Mr. Nelson didn't seem like the _Demon Headmaster_ type. Or maybe I only thought that because my Principal made even the toughest of guys shit their pants - you could hear her heels clacking from a mile off, and she may have been small but she had the ability to catch you in an evil stare and wouldn't let you look away until the truth came out. She also had a face like an eagle and smelt of stale cigarettes.

_Mrs. Dawkins. What a stunning creature she was._

Mr. _"call me Scott" _Nelson offered his hand to me also, then asked us to take a seat so we could start the interview. He started off by saying how appreciative he was for Edward choosing this school.

"Lily is a very athletic girl, and so I wanted her to attend somewhere which could help her shine in that department, and I see that you have incredible facilities."

Mr. Nelson adjusted the knot of his tie slightly as he moved in his seat. "Absolutely. We can offer you, Lily, a 45,000 square-foot athletic center, which includes: squash courts, full-sized basketball courts, fitness center, and even an ice hockey and skating rink. And that is not including the fields outside for lacrosse, baseball, soccer..."

_Holy shit! That makes even _me _want to take up a sport!_

"Oh, my goodness..." I was not the only one taken back by his list.

"Where do your interests lie?" He asked her.

"Boxing." I didn't have to look at Kid's face to know that she was smiling.

"Ah, taking after your father I see. Yes, well in that case you also have full access to our state-of-the-art fitness and weight training rooms which you are free to use in between classes."

Bossman and Mr. Nelson then spoke together for the remainder of the interview, discussing all the legal documents that Edward brought with him, along with payment and such like. He then offered to take us on a tour of the campus so Lily could get a good view of the school.

"We have a summer school program running at the moment," Mr. Nelson mentioned as he held the door of his office open for us to walk through. "Of course Lily is more than welcome to join should she like, otherwise our new term starts at the beginning of September."

We were taken on a tour of the main building and a brief look at all the Upper School classrooms and learned that Mr. Nelson was the Headmaster of the entire school, but there was a separate Principal for the Lower, Middle and Upper Schools. A Mr. Wieman would be Lily's Principal who she would meet at a later date.

"What do you think?" Edward asked me quietly.

"I think it's perfect," I beamed up at him, "it's exactly what she needs, and it's close to home so it wouldn't be hard for her to get here."

"Yes. I'll have someone drive her every day, until she learns herself."

"What do you think of it?" I repeated his recent question.

"I like it. I think it's great..."

"But...?"

"I just... I don't know..."

Edward had the same tense look on his face which I had seen many a time before. I slipped my hand into his so that our fingers intertwined and squeezed them gently. "What is it? Something is eating away at you."

He looked down at me. I searched his eyes but I all I saw that was the same tense emotion. "I feel like I'm getting ahead of myself."

"About what?"

_Honestly, getting information from him was like getting blood from a fucking stone sometimes._

"What if we enroll her here, she makes some great friends and gets attached and comfortable..."

"Then that would be great!" The silence between us gave me the chance to properly look at him. That was when I understood what he was saying, and where he was coming from. _Lauren. _"Boss..." I said sympathetically, my free hand patted his firm chest. "Lily wants to stay here - she wants to live with _you. _Even if that stupid little bitch comes running back, she cannot force Kid to live in Seattle. You know this."

He didn't say anything, I think he was too scared to voice what he thought.

"Look," I said and pointed down the corridor where Lily was checking out the computer room, equipped with at least a dozen iMac computers. "Can you not see how..._damn happy _she is here already, and she hasn't even started! Don't let the 'what if's control you."

Edward broke his hand free from mine so that he could rap his arms around me in a deep hug. "You always know what to say."

"I know..." I sighed blissfully, "I am pretty fucking fantastic."

_0-0_

After the tour and another brief interview with Mr. Nelson, he and Bossman shook hands again and they promised to get in contact shortly. Mr. Nelson thanked us all for coming, and said how he was looking forward to Lily starting after the summer.

"Oh, my God! That is, like, the best school I have ever seen!" Kid was like a little jumping bean in the back seat of the car. "Is it September yet?! I cannot wait to start! Oh, my God!"

Edward and I laughed at her excitement and listened happily as she squealed for the fifteen minutes it took to drive home.

The time was reaching four-thirty when we returned and I knew I needed to head off to save Siobhan from my mother. Not only that, I was also desperate to get back to _Orange Is the New Black -_ my new obsession on Netflix.

_I'd say I was confident with my sexuality, but Ruby Rose made me think otherwise._

_I mean, have you fucking seen her? Exactly._

"Hey, Bella," Boss caught me before I could say my goodbyes. "Have you got a second?"

_I do... but... Orange Is the New Black..._

I laughed silently at my immature thoughts, "yeah, sure. What do you need?"

"I've been thinking..." He scratched away at his luscious hair.

"Oh, dear..."

Edward smirked at me, but continued to speak his mind. "I've been thinking about what we discussed the other day, and... um... how we were thinking of...y'know... giving this another go?"

_So damn adorable. _This man can talk in front of a room full of intimidating assholes and not stutter once, but the second he needs to get personal, he's stuttering more than fucking Porky Pig.

"Uh huh..." I tried my darnedest not to laugh.

"And so I want to take this seriously and do it the proper way."

"Okay...?"

Edward closed his eyes and took a deep breath to regain his posture. "Tomorrow evening, Miss Swan, I am going to take you out for dinner."

"Oh." That was not what I had expected him to say, but I won't lie and say that it didn't make my insides bubble like they had done that morning. "Okay." I said with a large, glowing smile on my face.

"I am going to pick you up at eight o'clock and I promise to be nothing but the perfect gentleman."

"So no fumbling in the back of your car?" I winked.

"Fumble? Isabella, I can assure you there is nothing clumsy about me when it comes down to that."

"So... there will be fumbles?"

"I didn't say that, and no - the perfect gentleman waits until _at least _the third date before they get to second base."

_Dammit._

"But... is that okay?" He asked, the cockiness lost for a second.

"Absolutely. I cannot wait. So... I'll see you at eight?"

"See you at eight." He winked and kissed my cheek sweetly before he opened my car door open for me.

I think I grinned like a love-sick school girl all the way home.

_0-0_

**A bit on the shorter side, but I'm absolutely exhausted and didn't know when I'd next get the time to write, so here you go! **

**So I'm gonna go watch OITNB (that really is my new obsession) and you can tell me all what you thought!**

**YAY! A DATE! **

**Thank you for reading x **


	26. Almanac

**A chapter full of fluff. 'Cause sometimes that is just what we need.**

**CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX**

**BELLA**

What does one wear when they're going out for dinner with their boss, but who is not just their boss and could be a potential partner? Romantic partner, not business partner. But then again they are your business partner, because they are your boss... _ah fuck, I'm confusing myself. _I need to know what to wear, right? Let's work on that for now, and there was only one person I could call in that situation.

_"Angela Weber, wanton sex goddess, with a very bad man between her thighs." _

"Um... Ang? Should I phone you back?" I didn't realize her dates with Ben had been going that well.

_"I'm just messin' with you, Bell. This single pringle can only dream about something between her thighs."_

"Good to know, Ang'. Anyway, I'm going out for dinner with Bossman and I don't know what to wear..."

_"Hmm..." _There was a clear chewing heard from the other end of the phone. Angela waited until she had finished her mouthful before she continued talking. _"How about that black pant suit? It looks perfect, and really emphasizes your hips, tits and other naughty bits."_

I stood there, in front of my full-length mirror, in nothing but my bra and panties, laughing hysterically. She has a beautiful way with words. "Thanks for your advice, but he's seen that suit many a time before."

_"Ooh? This isn't just dinner?" _

"Er... correct."

_"Damn girl! You got yourself a date?" _

"I do... hence my problem. I need to make an effort, y'know?"

Again the sound of chewing could be heard. _"Well... was it me in that situation, I wouldn't wear anything... and he wouldn't either, 'cause I'd rip it off him."_

For the second time in that conversation my words were cut off by a sudden burst of laughter. "So I should just turn up in a trench coat, with nothing but nipple tassels on underneath?"

_"Yes! Perfect combination. Or, y'know, you could just wear a dress - have you still got that black and green one?"_

"The bodycon that sticks to me like a second skin? Yeah I have that."

_"Wear that and Boss won't know what to do with you and in which order. Now, I don't wanna leave you hanging, but I have a date myself this evening..."_

I traipsed over to my closet to look out the dress Angela had suggested. "Really?" I said with a smirk and unhooked the hanger from the rail, "I assume that means with Netflix?" I thought I had an obsession with that site - she was on a whole new level. "And can I ask who your victim is this time?"

_"'Prison Break'. Wentworth Miller and I plan on living a long and happy life together."_

I switched Angela onto speaker phone so that I could squeeze the dress on at the same time. "You know he's gay, right?" I may have snorted as well - I was having far too much fun.

_"You know Ruby Rose is gay, right? And a chick." _Touche. _"Now, enough about a chick; go get the dick. Enjoy your evening."_

As I continued to get ready, I turned on Spotify and played a selection of songs that took me straight back to my childhood. Of course Spice Girls were part of the compilation, but as well as that, I added a bit of S Club 7 to the mix.

Like they said, _it ain't no party like an S Club party. _

0-0

By 7:45 I was sliding the last bobby pin into my hair to keep it in place. I hadn't done anything too fancy to it, I pinned back one side and left the rest falling with light waves. My make-up, also, was very light and natural with barely anything on my eyes apart from mascara and a dusting of eye shadow, some foundation, powder and a nude lipstick. I was not a talented make-up artist, so I would have rather done what I could instead of make a mess of myself and look like The fucking Joker.

_Why so serious? Well he can't take me seriously with that shit all over my face._

Angela was right, the dress worked perfectly. It was a black, sleeveless bodycon dress which stopped at my knees, and the sides of the dress were jade green to cause a slimming, hourglass shape. I matched it with a pair of plain black heels. Nothing too high and fancy, or I'd never be able to walk. I plan on not being able to walk at the end of the date, not the beginning. Know what I mean?

At promptly 8 o'clock, there was a knock at my door. I felt like a young teenager going to the school prom with the date of her dreams. Visions of my own prom flashed before me - that was a night I'd much rather forget.

"Oh, Bella, you look lovely!" Renee leaned against the living room door with a cup of tea cradled in her hands, "I hope Mr. Cullen knows to keep his hands to himself."

"Don't you worry, Momma; he swore to be the perfect gentleman." I double checked that my purse held everything I needed then reached for the door handle, but turned back to Renee before I opened it. "I don't know how late I'll be, but I'll have my phone on me should you need anything."

"Now, Bunny, you know I'm more than capable of looking after myself - I've done it for years."

"Okay..." With a brief hug and kiss to her cheek, I opened the door to reveal Bossman standing in all his glory. He was dressed in a crisp black tuxedo with hair in a natural ruffled style. I was glad to see that he'd stayed away from his razor this morning, his jaw was coated in a luscious, panty-wetting heavy stubble. In his hands were a bunch of flowers and box of chocolates. Y'know when your heart does that big, fluttery thing? Yeah, that happened.

"Isabella, you look beautiful."

My cheeks flushed with warmth, "thank you. You scrub up well yourself, Boss."

"Um... I bought you these..." I happily accepted his presents and the kiss on the cheek he added along with his offering. "I said I'd be the perfect gentleman, and any man who does not treat their date with chocolates and flowers is a pussy in my eyes."

"Here, here." I nodded firmly before my face broke into a smug grin. "Let me get some water for these then we can be on our way." The second I turned my back and had headed into the kitchen for a vase, a whistling sound was heard from behind me. From the tone, I knew it was not Edward complimenting my ass. Which left only one other person who it could have been.

With a scared look on my face and seeping through my body, I turned to witness Renee with her hands all over Edward's top half. He looked scared, but like he was trying hard to pass it off as nothing. "Mom!" I called in horror.

"Forget what I just said, Bunny, about hands and where they should or should not be. Make sure he puts them _everywhere." Oh Christ. _If that wasn't bad enough, what she said next was even worse. "Mr. Cullen, Bella is not a fragile doll; feel free to do whatever you want with her."

"Okay I've heard enough. C'mon Boss, lets go."

As we walked to the car, with his hand on the base of my back, Edward whispered; "I might need to take your mom on that offer. You are looking sinful, Miss Swan."

"Please," I urged as he opened the car door for me, "do not take advice like that from my mother. There is a reason why she is on her second marriage."

All I heard as Edward shut the door and went to the other side was the loud sound of his joyful laugh. I noticed the driver in the front seat as Trent, he had been a loyal driver for the company long before Edward took over the role. I wasn't sure where we were going that evening, but I hoped Trent was getting paid extra for his service.

We drove for approximately forty-five minutes through Upper Manhattan, Upper West Side and continued south of the state, I had no idea where we were going and Edward gave across no clues as to where. We made small talk for the duration of journey and it was 9 o'clock before we had reached West Village. I had been to the town a couple times for business and such like, but that was the first time I had gone there to enjoy the nightlife.

Beautiful brownstone houses walled us in from each side. I had always admired them, maybe one day I'd find myself owning one but right now I didn't have a spare couple million dollars floating around. Trent dropped us on the sidewalk and from looking out the window, I couldn't see much.

"Where are we?" I asked, spinning my head from side to side.

Edward just grinned and held out his hand for me to take, "this way," was all he said. It was as we walked further down the street that I noticed a small black entryway, in front of a wall of glass. Above the glass and running along the continuing brick wall, was a mess of bright green vines. The word 'Almanac' was printed in italics on the entryway. I'd heard great things about the American restaurant, and was interested to try it.

"I hope this is okay." Edward said warily as he, once again, opened the door for me. Such a gentleman, like he promised.

"Taco Bell would have been 'okay'," I gazed up with one hand on his arm, "this is perfect, Edward." I'd never been treated this way before and I wasn't too sure how to react.

Our waiter welcomed us and showed us to the reserved booth Edward had asked for. He mentioned how Chef Zamarra had set up a special 4 course taster menu especially for us and that the bottle of Carbernet Sauvignon was on the house. Out of curiosity I checked the wine list and noted that that particular bottle was $150.

_Shitting hell, I wouldn't even buy an item of clothing that costs that amount of money, let alone a bottle of wine! How the other half live and all that, right?_

The Almanac had a dark look to it with custom dim lighting. The booth we sat at had been lined with a deep red, leather cushioning. It was all very romantic.

"Thank you for bringing me here, it's very lovely." Again I blushed as Edward caught me with one of his smoldering looks. I swear, I should have brought a clean pair of panties with me. To distract myself from that sudden feeling, I focused on the glass he was filling with a smooth red liquid. "Wining and dining, Boss?"

Again with that damn smolder, "only the best for you, Love. And look," once the glasses were full he reached into his suit pocket and brought out his cell phone. "This will be turned off all evening so there will be no constant distraction. The only distraction will be how you look in that dress..."

"Well damn, how long have you been working on that one for? Such a smooth talker."

"But in all honesty, Bella," his hand snaked across the table to take mine, our fingers tangled, "I want to do this right, and make you see that it isn't all an act." His tone and expression were sincere.

"I know that," I smiled, "and please know that I feel the exact same way. I'm not just here for the free food, although that is a perk."

"Free food? Miss Swan, who said I'd be paying?"

I loved that we could go from being serious to sarcastic within seconds. "I thought the perfect gentleman always pays for the first date?"

Our waiter arrived then with the first of our four tasting dishes. "Here we have a cherry gazpacho," he set down the bowls filled with a deep red soup, "can I offer you anything else?"

Edward answered for the two of us, "no, we're fine thank you."

"Enjoy your meal," the waiter smiled and left us to it. The gazpacho, despite what I first thought, was delicious. I'd never liked the idea of cold soup, but it was surprisingly tasty. The sweet and sour mix of cherries hit you first, followed by a very subtle smoky aftertaste. I couldn't decipher what it was that caused it, but it was delicious either way.

"Have you been here before?" I asked.

"No, first time. But I had heard such great things, it was only a matter of time."

The servings were small, hence the reason for a tasting menu, so it wasn't long until our gazpacho was finished and the empty bowls taken away. "You should bring Lily here - I think she'd love it."

Bossman didn't seem as sure as I was, "you really think she'd enjoy food like this?"

"If I do she will."

"A good point well made, Miss Swan."

An awkward feeling fell over me as we waited on the next course arriving, I had something to say, but I couldn't word it right mentally. Edward must have noticed my change because whenever I caught a look at him, he was staring at me curiously. Thankfully our next course arrived to distract me. It was rabbit tortelloni with baby carrots, peas, a garlic cream sauce and sprinkled with cheese.

I swallowed my first pasta bit, chewed it slowly, then began to speak my words. "Edward I want to... apologize."

Edward took a sip from his wine, "apologize? Whatever for?" He took my hand once again and I wanted to cry at the look of concern on his handsome face. "What's wrong, love?"

I took a large gulp from my own glass; liquid confidence was a must at that point. "I want to apologize for how I treated you... when this all started. I realize I was too busy blaming you for things and never actually admitted to my own problems and that I, too, was a bad guy. I was too quick to jump down your throat and for that I'm really sorry."

"Oh, Bella, you don't need to apologize for that."

Instead of responding to Bossman, I continued to talk. "I know I don't show it - and I should probably work on that - but I do want to make this work, and that can't happen if I haven't wiped the slate completely clean. Do you understand?"

"Absolutely. Can I say something?" I nodded and stabbed my final tortelloni. "First off I appreciate what you said; we both had our problems and often it is easier to pass off the blame then to keep it on you. And despite what you said, I know you want this to go somewhere."

"You did?"

Bossman laughed and shook his head lightly. "Of course I did. Bella, I have worked with you every single day for five years, I've come to understand you pretty well in that time. I know when you are sincere about something, I know when you '_can't be fucked' _with something - and that is what I like about you."

_Holy crap. Pass us a tissue; Momma's 'bout-a cry._

What is it with Edward's fucking smirk that instantly makes your forget where you are and what you were doing? "Um...thank you? But I'm still sorry, I shouldn't have done that. Can you accept that?"

"I accept your apology, as long as you can accept mine and we put this conversation to bed?"

With a toothy smile I rose my hand in the air for him to slap with his own. "Agreed, Boss."

"Good, now, would you like some more wine?"

0-0

Trent was outside the second we left Almanac, I felt ten times larger than I was at the beginning of the night which is ironic coming from the girl who could eat three Big Mac meals and still have room at the end for ice cream.

"Did you enjoy the evening?" We sat closer together than we had done on our way there. He stroked the bare skin of my knee.

"It was the best evening, thank you. Did you?"

"Yes, Bella," Edward smiled down at me, "I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Would you be willing to do this again sometime?"

With my hand linked in his I rose up in my seat to kiss him sweetly on the cheek. "Name the time and place."

Before we knew it, Trent had pulled up outside my bungalow. I should have expected Edward would get out of the car and walk me up to the front door, and if I was being honest with myself, I would have been pissed had he not done so.

"Thank you for a lovely evening, Boss." We edged closer and closer to one another, and acted like two high school sweethearts on their first ever date, not two thirty-ish year olds.

"You are very welcome." He put caution to the wind, took my face softly in his hands and lowered his head to meet me in a sweet kiss. It had been far too long since that had last happened, and I made a pact there and then, not to let it be that long again. "Could you come over tomorrow?" He eventually whispered, "for business, of course."

"Of course."

"Okay," he kissed me one last time, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you then."

0-0

**A few important things to mention. Number one - Almanac is a real restaurant and the dishes were taken from its menu. I'm not smart enough to come up with dishes.**

**Number two - for those of you who don't follow me on Facebook, I have submitted an outtake for the Fandom for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. It is an outtake for the story 'The Workings of Fate' and if you want to read it, make sure to donate :)**

**Number three - I made a wee picture collage for this chapter and it can be found on my FB group, RosieRathbone FanFiction.**

**But apart from that, what did you think about their date? **


	27. Mother Nature

**CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN**

**BELLA**

The time has come.

The time that every woman dreads.

For the next few days I will bleed through my hoo-ha and everything will become uncomfortable. Even sneezing will feel like a dangerous mission, and that is only the start of things. But you know what annoys me? It's not the cramps or anything like that, it's the fact that the moment Bossman and I have said goodbye to our break, _bam! _Mother Nature turns up to place a road block between us and cuts me off from the waist down.

I mean, I guess we could act out some 50 Shades bath scene and go ahead with it anyway, but... no. Sorry Bossman, but your Little Boss is not going anywhere near there. That's just... ew. So disgusting.

It was the Monday after our date and my first day back at the office since Mom went home yesterday and I had 101 different things going on inside my head, including what I was going to do about her illness and whether my step-father will, or will not, take his finger out his a-hole and actually help me with her. Until now he had been a fat load of use, not even saying a single word to me or giving me a heads up when he knew Mom was coming to stay.

But before I sat down to deal with his shit and whatever Bossman had install for me, I went on the search for the biggest, greasiest, calorie-filled sub sandwich and a giant can of Red Bull. The only pros to getting your period, you can eat as much crap as you want and simply blame it on your hormonal cravings. Okay, so I eat like a pig every day... but that's beside the point.

I rode the elevator up to the top floor with my sandwich and can of carbonated crap balanced along with my bag and various work folders. I knew Edward had arrived already, but I was pleasantly surprised, and slightly confused, to find Siobhan seated by my desk. I was about to greet her and ask why she was here, but she pointed towards Edward's office before I could, and that was when I noticed the loud voices coming from the other side of the door.

Lily's voice sounded angry, and like she was on the brink of tears._"I said no!" _ she screamed. Apart from the day that fucking gold digger dragged Lily back to Seattle, I'd never heard her raise her voice like that, especially to Edward.

"What the hell is going on?" I demanded, dropping my items onto the desk.

"I don't know," Siobhan answered, twirling in her seat to face me, "I had offered to take Lily shopping - get her out the house for the day - when he phoned and asked to speak to her. They've been in there for about ten minutes, but only now are they shouting."

"Lillian, please -."

"No!" With some force, Lily yanked open the glass door. Edward was hot on her heels. "I'm not doing it, end of discussion!"

"I'm only -."

Again, Lily cut of her father's words with her own. The anger had softened in the seconds break. "Dad, please, don't make me do this. I..." her head fell forward, the ginger ponytail flipped down in motion. She straightened up a few seconds later. "No. I've said I won't, and that is final. Siobhan," as Lily turned, I caught the puffiness of her eyes, "can we go now?"

Siobhan was quick to stand, "absolutely, Petal."

The moment the elevator doors closed Edward sat down heavily on my corner couch. With hesitant steps I treaded over carefully and sat down beside him. My hand stroked his knee as a way to silently mention that I was there for him, like he was for me.

"Fucking Lauren. Just when things were getting better."

I had an inkling that she was the problem - she's the only one I know who'd ruffle Lily's feathers that way, but I was hoping it could have been something else. Anything else. "What has she done?" Can I kill her? Will you help me hide the body? I've watched enough Dexter to get a few decent ideas, y'know.

"There was a message on my answer machine when I came in this she said - sorry, _demanded - _was that Lily gave her a call so that they could talk... And you saw how well she took that news."

As much as I heard everything he said, there was only one part of that which played on my mind. "How could she leave a message without us getting it until now? If none of us answer, the call goes straight to my cell phone?"

"Bella, really? Does that matter?"

_Woah Boss, only saying. _"Have you spoken to Lauren?" He shook his head, "well... surely you could ring her back, say that Lily doesn't want to speak to her every again, and hang up?"

Edward turned to face me, the hint of a smirk cornered his mouth. "You really think that's going to work? _'Oh, not to worry then. Have a good life'." _I was pretty impressed with how well he could imitate a woman's voice. "Yeah, I doubt it."

"In that case we'll get Mr. Lincoln notified and even Mr. Sharpe incase we need to use any of her hidden evidence. We'll shoot that bitch down from her high horse."

Edward laughed, "okay, calm down, love. All Lauren said was that she wanted to speak to Lily, she didn't mention anything else and until she does so, there is no reason to get my lawyer or your personal investigator involved."

"Fine," I stood from the couch, he followed my movements, "however, if she didn't get an answer, she'll ring back, right?" He nodded, "then I want to be the one that talks to your ex-mistake. She'll need to go through my phone first anyway before she got to you."

"Are you sure that's a good idea? You and she don't have the best record when it comes to conversations." Boss took a strand of my hair that had fallen in front of my face and pushed it behind my ear. It was a very caring gesture, but I was in no mood to fall for his dangerous tactics. I needed to stand my ground. "Maybe I should take her call?"

"No," my heeled boot stomped on the carpet, "and anyway you'd need to access my computer in order to change the phone line, and I'm pretty sure you don't know my password."

"Hmm... let me guess... it would be something like BellaandAngus?"

_It's actually BellaandAngus01, gotta include a number and all that, y'know?_

0-0

Our morning was busy with a pile of work to get through meaning we had to work through our lunch break. Angela offered to bring us up a sandwich or something from the cafe, which I eagerly accepted because I love food and no amount of work was going to stop me from eating. The second I held a forkful of pasta salad to my mouth, the phone rang for the millionth time that day.

"Good afternoon; Brandon and Cullen agencies New York, Isabella speaking. How may I help?"

"_I need to talk to Edward._" Lauren snapped down the phone.

Yet I acted like Little Miss Innocent, just to wind her up. "I'm sorry, who is this?" That Oscar has my name written all over it. Damn, I'm so good at this.

_"Bella, you know who this is."_

"Mrs. Parkinson...?"

_"Oh for goodness sake, It's Lauren Mallory-Yorkie. I need to talk to Edward." _

"I'm sorry, Mr. Cullen is in a very important meeting right now, can I take a message?" In a meeting my ass; Bossman was standing in my office, leaning against the wall with one foot over the other, sporting a very mischievous grin.

_"I left him a message this morning and he still has not replied to it!"_

"Like I said, Mr. Cullen is in a very important meeting, and has been since this morning." _Y'know, 'cause someone people have to actually _work _for their money, bitch. _"But he did ask me to pass something on to you..." I peeped a look at Edward, his face had formed a heavy frown.

_"And...? Honestly Isabella, you really are useless at your job." _

Bitch. I will end you.

"Step the fuck away from Lily, right? She doesn't want anything to do with you, she especially doesn't want to speak to you. Now, if you don't give her the time and space that she needs I won't hesitate to come at you with a wall tack and deflate your fake little face, okay?"

_"You really know how to scare someone don't you, Isabella?"_

"Lauren, I'm not trying to scare you, I'm just wanting to make you see what the consequences could be if you don't leave Lily alone. Now, is there anything else I can do for you?"

With a loud huff Lauren hung up the phone. "You," Edward whispered in my ear and placed a soft kiss on the side of my neck, "constantly," another kiss, a bit further up, "surprise me, Miss Swan." My chair was spun 'round so I looked him face on. With his hands either side of me, Boss leaned forward and dropped a kiss on the tip of my nose.

"Yes, I know. It's a gift."

Bossman didn't reply. Well, he did, but not with his words. His lips lowered to mine, and I happily accepted. My hands clutched into his hair to pull him closer to me. That urge and need was too strong, too much for us to take. It didn't take long until I found my backside planted on the desk, with my legs wrapped around him, I could tell just how much this was affecting him. Little Boss, I've missed you.

The phone rang, interrupting our heated make out from where I sat I could just work out 'Princess Cullen' on the screen, I pulled away with attempt to get Edward standing straight, but he stopped my hand from reaching the phone. "Just leave it, my sister can leave a message."

He didn't need to tell me twice, with the call ignored we got straight back into our routine. I was suddenly very thankful that I had decided to wear a floaty blouse that morning - more room for Boss to get his hands under. It was as his fingers stroked up my rib cage, causing a sensual shiver to ripple through my body, the well known '_ding' _of the elevator was heard. Of course, both of us were too preoccupied to react, until a horrified voice shattered the moment.

_"Oh, Christ!" _Maybe I shouldn't have ignored Rosalie's call. Edward practically flew back, leaving me lying on my desk with my blouse wrapped up around my tits and the button of my pants undone. I must have been in some daze, because I never even felt him in undo it.

_Thank God you didn't go any further. If my seriously large Granny panties didn't scare you away, delve a bit further and you'd have been traumatized. _

"Edward," Rosalie shot me the dirtiest look as she strutted past me to get to her brother. "I need to discuss some things with you. Perhaps we could go into your office and allow Bella to... sort herself out."

Like the true gentleman, Edward held open the door for Rosalie, then turned to me and winked in a way which said, _to be continued_

_0-0_

As the siblings spoke, and work had died down, I went on a Google search for residential care homes. I would have felt better about the whole thing if Mom was moved somewhere closer to me, so that I could take regular trips to see her. I didn't know how Phil felt about that, but personally, I didn't care. With a coffee in hand (if I couldn't have alcohol, I was having caffeine) I started my search. An uneasy feeling overtook me as I typed in the words. However I needed to get Renee help, and she wasn't going to get any better sitting by herself with her wannabe-sports star husband traveling across the country all the time.

I knew of the residency home in Tuckahoe, and as much as I wanted her close by, that was a little too close. However there were 30 facilities in a 15 mile radius of Tuckahoe. The same uneasy feeling appeared when I clicked on the photos and imagined Renee sitting on those mix-matched furniture, eating dinner at the separate tables, or walking around the gardens, all while her mind slowly disappears. But with prices reaching almost $60,000 a year, my list of affordable homes were limited.

"Thank you, Edward - we can talk again tomorrow when things have been set in stone." The same dirty look was passed onto me when Rosalie waited on the elevator doors to open. I thought things were good with us, but that changes when you walk in on someone practically screwing your brother against a desk. I don't have a brother, but I can tell how weird that would be.

"Are you okay?" Edward, sensing my tense muscles, massaged my shoulders. "What's up?"

I kept my eyes on the screen, scrolling up the page watching the mile distance grow. "There is no way I can afford this shit, Boss. I mean, that's fucking daylight robbery." But Mom needed this help, maybe not right now, but soon she will. "Do you think Phil could help? We could split it 50-50? But even that is pushing it..."

"Bella, love, stop." He spun me on my seat so that I faced him instead of the daunting computer screen, "don't fill your head with payments - don't scare yourself."

"Don't think about payments? But how am I to get Renee the help she needs if I can't afford it? I need to know what I'm expected to pay and how much I'll need to save! But I can't save that amount of money in my entire life - let alone every year for the rest of my life!"

I was off my seat and in his arms in an instant. Edward soothed down my hair and kissed my face over and over. "We'll sort something out, okay? I would happily take care of the fees if that would make things better."

"No. No, Edward, I cannot have you pay for my mother's care." I hate it when Boss buy's me a damn outfit, let alone something of this level.

"Sweetheart you're working yourself up too much; we'll sort this out, okay? Together."

I liked the sound of that. _Together. _

_0-0_

**Damn you Bossman, why you gotta be so cute, huh?**

**Some of you did mention Lauren and whether we had seen the last of her. Well, there is your answer ;)**

**Thanks for reading. Favourite line? **

**x**


	28. Phil

**Writers block was strong with this one. I lost my shit with it plenty of times. **

**CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT**

**BELLA**

The day started of as a good day; I woke before my alarm - wide awake and full of energy. Which, seeing as I often have the energy of a sloth, came as quite a surprise. Angus had curled his warm, furry body into mine and didn't even try to fight me when I pulled him up onto my chest for a snuggle. I used my phone to check Facebook and see if anything exciting had happened, and when I saw that an ex-boyfriend of mine had recently changed his relationship status back to 'single', I couldn't help but laugh. Yet another girl who had seen his real side and scampered away before he could trap her in marriage. To be honest, I don't actually know why I'm still friends with him on that stupid site. I guess it's just fun to see how much better my life is without him.

With the extra fifteen minutes I had acquired after waking up early, I decided to use that time wisely and put a bit of effort into my outfit and appearance. I chose a pair of black, high-waisted pants, a deep green blouse and my favorite pair of black wedges. For once I looked and felt like a semi-sophisticated person. Now, usually at this point I would have five minutes to do something with my hair and run out the door - nine times out of ten I would pull it over to fall down one shoulder, or throw it up into a messy pony tail. But that morning I felt... _inspired, _so, with a hair tutorial playing through YouTube, I styled my lion's mane into a fishtail side braid. Not gonna lie, I was pretty impressed with the result. My bangs hung free to frame my face, and loose, whispy fly-aways fell out of my braid. A smokey-eye-nude-lip finished off my look.

_Boom. Straight off the cat walk._

I stopped by Starbucks for a double shot, venti coffee. I don't go for soy milk with half of this and half of that - coffee. Double it. That'll do. I had Train play through my car speakers to add a catchy soundtrack as I drove through the New York congestion leading into Manhattan.

My normal procedure was to buy a filled bagel from the vendor outside the office block, and that morning I felt like treating Boss to one too.

"Morning, beautiful Bella." The vendor greeted me with a charming, yet slightly dodgy smile. _You know you have a problem when the bagel man knows you by name and already has your order ready to collect. _

"Good morning. I'll take a salmon and cream cheese as well, please."

"Sure!" I looked out the correct change as he made up Edward's bagel. I passed the cash as he passed the food, "for you, beautiful Bella, it's on the house."

"Oh, no, please, allow me to pay for them."

"It is not right for a gorgeous woman like yourself to pay for a measly bagel."

_Yeah, you are officially freaking me out now, bagel man. _I thanked him for his generosity and put the money back in my purse, only because I wanted to get the hell out of there. I mean, the man is old enough to be my father; that's just wrong! He said he would see me the following morning, but I was already thinking of how to by-pass that interaction.

I smiled and waved at the co-workers I passed on my way to the elevator, and even had an interesting conversation with Juliet, one of our realtors. I found out that she was showing off a house to a couple who were buying the first home together and had no idea what they were looking for and were making work incredibly hard for Juliet and the crew.

Bossman was on the phone when I entered his office. We shared a smile, I pointed down to his bagel and fresh cup of coffee, then left him to it. In the fifteen minutes that Boss was preoccupied, I made various phone calls to Angela to arrange meetings for Boss and Princess, booked said meetings, then emailed the companies to finalize the plans. It was as I finished off the final email that Boss came through; his mouth was full with the cream cheese bagel. But the smile and satisfied nod he gave had me see he was thankful.

Once his mouthful had been chewed and swallowed, he bent down to place a sweet kiss on my cheek. "You must have known I skipped breakfast," he mumbled then kissed me again.

My shoulders rose in a shrug, "I'm in a good mood today. And why did you skip breakfast? Y'know Siobhan won't stand for a stunt like that."

"I had a lot of shit to get through, so I came here before Siobhan even arrived. My plan was to leave early and fit a practice session in with Lily, but now I doubt that is going to happen."

_Ow. My heart. _"Why, what are you doing?"

Edward hesitated, then shook his head; "it's nothing. Right, I have quite a few things to do today, so don't be offended if I hide away in my office."

"It's alright, Boss," my hand stroked his lower arm, "you go be a hermit and I'll provide a constant coffee and bagel fix."

"You know the way to my heart, Swan."

An hour later found me with some free time to kill. The phones had finally stopped ringing and all emails had been answered, so I chose that quiet time to get in contact with Phil and hear his side of the story. Of course it was just my luck that Mom was to answer the phone.

_"__Bunny! What a surprise!"_

"Hello, Mom, how are you?"

_"__Oh, I'm just fine. Tired, y'know, what with an overnight flight."_

"An overnight flight?"

_"__Yes... oh, Bunny, don't say you've already forgotten your dear mother staying with you! I only left last night." _

My fingertips rubbed away at my forehead. That definitely was not a coincidence - you cannot simply forget the past three days. "That was a few days ago Mom... and you had a morning flight, not an overnight one." I had heard somewhere that you shouldn't correct someone with Dementia; if they said they were 23, you go along with it. But it seemed to have slipped out before I could stop myself.

_"__Oh well anyway, I'm still tired." _

Thankfully that gave me the loophole I needed to get Phil on the phone. "Why don't you go for a nap then? And whilst you are at it, could I speak to Phil for a second?" After some more persuading she went off to get my stepfather. A couple minutes later, his voice came through the speakers.

_"__How are you Bella?"_

It had been quite a while since I had last spoken to Phil. We had an 'okay' relationship and Mom seems very happy with him; that's the main thing. "I'm good. Um, I need to discuss something with you - something concerning Renee and how it suddenly seems like she isn't herself anymore...?"

He let out a loud sigh - he knew exactly what I meant. _"Yes, I thought you were going to bring that up."_

"Why didn't you tell me when you first realized? A little warning might have been nice, y'know."

_"__Bella I have been busy, and I didn't want to worry you unless I was certain."_

"That doesn't matter! I have every right to know when it concerns her."

_"__Okay, okay, I apologize."_

"Well before it goes any further, you need to have her checked out by a doctor and if you are '_too busy' _ to get off your ass and do so, I will."

_"__Isabella she is my wife," _he fumed, his tone grew tense, _"I'll always have the time when it comes to her."_

"But apparently you don't have the time for your step-daughter? Thanks."

_"__Look, I'm sorry okay? I should have told you and it wasn't fair on you for me to keep quiet about it."_

Thankfully the red light on the phone cradle informed me I had a call waiting - one that I had to answer. If I hadn't ended our conversation soon, I would have said something I'd regret. "Thank you. I need to go, but can you let me know once she has been seen by someone?"

_"__Absolutely, I won't keep you in the dark anymore."_

We said our goodbyes and I managed to briefly compose myself before entering back into secretary Bella to answer the phone professionally. It was a man named Carter Holmes asking to speak to Edward. The name rang a bell from somewhere - where had I heard of Carter Holmes before? I passed it off as nothing and assumed he was one of our many clients, then went to grab myself a fresh cup of coffee.

Several minutes later, Edward buzzed through to my office. "_I'm going to put Mr. Holmes back on the line, could you discuss a time and date for him to come in for a meeting?"_

"No problem, Boss." Within seconds Mr. Holmes was on the line with me. "Mr. Cullen has asked me to arrange a meeting with you, Mr. Holmes. Can I please ask what day is best for you?" I went onto the calendar on my computer where I could view every day for the rest of the month.

_"__I'm away on business from the Tuesday to the Friday of next week, however I am free the Monday afternoon." _

I clicked on the day he had suggested which then allowed me to see Edward's schedule, I used a little mental calculation to work out where I could fit Mr. Holmes in. "Mr. Cullen has a half an hour window at two? I can, however, book you in for after your business trip should you need more time."

_"__That sounds perfect; I'll see you Monday at two. Thank you very much for your help, Isabella."_

"You're welcome, Mr. Holmes. See you then." With an audible sigh I leant my tired head on the desk. _Christ, it's one thing after another today. _I regained some energy, just enough to push my chair back, stand up, and walk through to Edward. When he spotted me plodding across the carpet he made room so I could curl up on his lap.

"Have you got a spare cigarette?" I could easily get used to the feel of his arms wrapped comfortingly around me.

Edward's quiet laugh had his chest bounce against my head, "I don't smoke, love. And neither do you."

"I know, but I want one. Or a shot of tequila. Yeah, definitely the tequila. Do you have some at home? A cheeky bottle of Jose Cuervo? I'll bring the salt and lime? We can get drunk. Can we get drunk?"

I ramble when I'm tired. It's like word vomit. But I couldn't understand it, because physically I didn't feel tired, but mentally I was exhausted. Unfortunately I couldn't get too comfortable; the clock was ticking and we had shit to do. "You have a meeting with Princess in twenty minutes, Boss." I stood from his oh-so-very-tempting lap and stretched out my shoulders. "Would you like a refreshment for when you go down there?"

Edward cupped my cheek with the palm of his hand and brushed it with his fingers, "I think I'm okay, thank you," he kissed me once and then a second time, "stay over tonight," he mumbled as he went in for a third.

"Stay over?"

"Yes. I'll get Siobhan to make your favorite meal... and we can have tequila."

My ears perked up at the sound of that. "We can? Hmm... then I might take you up on that offer, Mr. Cullen."

_0-0_

By six o'clock Bossman and I were on the road. It only made sense for me to drive us both to Bossman Manor and again in the morning, however I never realized how much of a backseat driver he was. We'd barely left Manhattan and I was already close to grinding to a halt and throwing his ass to the curb.

"You are far too close to that car, love."

"This is a thirty zone - you're going thirty-four."

"Isabella you just missed our turn off!"

I bit my lip, continued to drive, and did whatever I could to ignore his bullshit.

"You listen to your music far too loudly, Bella - that's a major distraction on a busy road."

"Oh come on; you could have made that light! Now you're just making the trip that bit longer."

"You didn't indicate."

"Right!" I shot him a hate-filled glare, "either shut the fuck up, or get the fuck out. Which one are you going to do, Edward?"

He clearly had a working brain cell because he chose not to say another word. That is.. until I turned into Tuckahoe. "What? I thought you were staying over?"

I pointed to my outfit, "and I'm supposed to wear this to sleep in plus work tomorrow? Yeah, I don't fucking think so."

"Who said you had to wear anything to sleep in?"

I ignored his immature, cocky remark and continued to drive to my house. Once inside, I told Edward to make himself comfortable and that I wouldn't be long. I filled a bag with all the shit I'd need, then grabbed another for Angus' stuff. Edward didn't know that he was coming with us, but that was part of our agreement - he had to respect my cat and allow him to stay at Bossman Manor.

I found Bossman and Angus having a stare-down in the living room. Any second now, one of them was going to pounce. I chose to be the hero and put a stop to any potential fight by scooping Angus up in my arms and putting him into his carry case. "We're not going far, bubs, just for a little journey. Edward," I looked over my shoulder, "would you mind collecting his food and water bowl? They're by my back door in the kitchen. Oh, and pick up a couple pouches of his food whilst you are at it."

He complied without a word, but from his unamused facial expression, I knew he wasn't happy about it. Edward did't mutter another word until we were back on the road; "if he pisses all over my floor..."

"You'll what?"

"Bella, is this entirely necessary? Surely he can fend for himself for one night."

I paid attention to the cars around me for a couple seconds before thinking about a response. "Yes, but what if I stay for a weekend or a few days? He needs to get comfortable with your house. And I wouldn't worry about finding piss on your floors - Angus is completely house trained and I cannot remember the last time I had to clear anything up that wasn't in his litter tray."

"Okay, well if I find the smallest piece of evidence that he has done something he shouldn't, then I'm sorry, love, but that cat will not be coming back."

Within twenty minutes we had arrived. Siobhan had promised to make us tacos for dinner, and walking into the house with the spicy-meaty scent wafting around was pure heaven. I could almost hear the hallelujah chorus. My mouth begun to water, my stomach rumbled with excitement, however my blissful daze was quickly interrupted by one of my favorite people.

"Bella!" It had been a week since I last saw Lily - it felt like a lifetime. I squeezed her in for a bone crushing hug. From her gym kit attire she was either about to go for a work out, or had just completed one.

"God, I've missed you, Kid."

"Dad," she spoke up from underneath my tight arms, "are you coming to the gym tonight?"

Edward's voice appeared from behind me, "I can't, Lil'; Bella and I have a lot to get through this evening. However I have a job for you." I let my girl go so that we could turn and speak to Edward properly. "For some absurd reason, Bella has decided to bring her damn cat with her. I will pay you to keep him out of my sight until tomorrow morning."

"Excuse me? Paying your own daughter to look after Angus was not part of the rules." My protective cat-mommy instincts broke free. How dare he - that asshole thinks he can talk negatively about my baby. "And anyway, Angus is just as (if not more) stubborn than me - he wouldn't allow Lily to follow him twenty-four-seven."

"I agreed to accept him, Bella. Anyway, I have work to do." He gave us a small smile then turned on his heel to head off in direction of his office.

"Why is your dad such a bastard, sometimes?"

Kid just laughed at my words and bent down to release Angus from his carry case. "We are gonna have so much fun," she cuddled my baby to her chest and buried her face in his fur. Angus let out a small meow before letting his satisfaction known by a warm purr.

Dinner was out of this world - Siobhan made tacos better than Taco Bell, and that, with me being one of their biggest fans, is something I'd never thought I'd say. She'd also made spicy rice and each of us had side portions of sour cream, guacamole, cheese... you get my point. Simply orgasmic.

After dinner I caught Edward in his office talking on the phone to someone. I stole the spare couch and waited on his call to end. It seemed to me that Edward coded his conversation once he spied me on the couch - like he didn't want me to know what he was talking about. "That sounds perfect... Yes, thank you... I'll think that over and get back to you... goodbye."

"What are you talking about?"

"Er..." Edward ran his hands through his messed up hair, "it is nothing that you need to be concerned over." From his expression alone I chose not to dig any deeper; he would tell me if he wanted to. "So..." he travelled over to his liqueur cabinet and brought out a bottle of Patron, "tequila?"

"Now that is more fucking like it, Boss."

_0-0_

**Not a cliffhanger, however if you imagine what could happen when those two drink their weight in tequila, you may have an idea of what is to come... **

**We met Phil, what do you think of him? **

**Thank you for reading. **


	29. Mr Holmes

I'm really sorry for how long this took - incase you haven't heard my writing came to a stand still. A new job has taken priority and I no longer have the time to upload something every week. I ask you please not to pressurize me into updating quickly. However I have got a Christmas story that is currently in progress if you are interested in reading that.

**CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE**

**BELLA**

Everybody has a limit, whether it's how high they can climb before the fear gets too much or, in my case, how much tequila you can shot back before you end up in a interesting situation with your boss/boyfriend. It must have been half way through our bottle when I made the drunk decision to show Edward my party trick.

My tits can clap.

You heard me, whip off my bra and I can push those puppies together to make a satisfying clapping sound. It is something I wish to do long into my adult years even when my tits are so saggy that I could play keepy-uppy with them to pass the time. Imagine that - you'd never get bored. Keep a tally on the wall and try to beat your high score. Okay, I'm rambling, but basically that was how our situation came about; I flew my bra across the room and then Bossman all but threw me across his desk.

Before I knew it the bottle was bone dry, lime wedges were scattered about the floor and Bossman and I were sneaking up the stairs like two stealthy ninjas. I think I tripped up the stairs once or twice and bashed into the walls occasionally, but in our minds we were being stealthy. In our minds we had all the time in the world and we didn't have work the next morning, which was why, at four a.m., we were trying to regain our composure after round 3 (or was it 4...?) when we realized we had to be up in two hours.

_Fun times!_

"Oh God, I feel like a bag of smashed assholes..." I moaned into Bossman's exceptionally silky pillows. My head was throbbing, and so was another part of me... a little bit further down, if you get what I mean... "Bossman I'm phoning in sick today, right?"

"Nice try, Bell, but if I have to suffer through a day in the office then you do to. After all, tequila on a school night was your idea." With a light laugh and a kiss to my head Edward was out of bed and strode his fine, naked ass towards the bathroom. I was very tempted to follow him - save water and all that, y'know? - but nausea hit from simply lifting my head.

_Dear God and all that is holy, please save me. _

_0-0_

Despite how I felt and how close I was to throwing up every five seconds, I somehow made it through the morning - answering various phone calls, setting Edward up for meetings and staring at a bright computer screen for hours on end. Ten minutes before I was due to go on my lunch break, the phone rang again.

_"__Bella Marie." _

"Angela Anne. To what do I owe the pleasure of your call?"

_"__I wish to go on a hunt - a hunt to find food. Do you care to join?"_

"Yes." I replied without a seconds delay. "We shall have a feast and dine!"

_"__I'm gonna be like that Hunger Games chick, going around New York with a bow and arrow shooting all the pigeons."_

"You could... or we could take the easy route and go to, say, Mr. Lee's? I would smack a bitch for one of his egg rolls right now."

_"__Snickers. You're not you when you're hungry."_

"Um, correction," I interrupted Angela's cackle-like laugh, "I'm hungover. There's a difference. I'll meet you downstairs in ten?"

_"__Perfect. See you then,_ _bitch." _

After sending off one final email I grabbed my stuff and changed the setting on my desk phone so that all calls would go straight through to Edward until I return. I poked my head around the door of his office to make sure it was okay for me to leave and whether he wanted me to pick anything up for him whilst I was out.

"A sub sandwich would go down a treat, love," he shot me a wink along with his trademark grin, "and a large diet coke -."

"-easy on the ice. Yes, Boss, I know."

Before I could leave, Edward motioned me over with the curling of his finger. "Did you forget something?" His chaste kiss quickly led to two, then three, then something a little steamier.

"I really need to go, Boss... you're not allowed to tease me like that." _But I won't lie, I would have happily blown Angela off for a little more of his time. _

"Okay, but hurry back." I left him with one final kiss and then headed for the door. "Oh, I forgot to say, Bell, Mr. Holmes is coming here to see me sometime this afternoon."

I turned around at the familiar name. He was the man I spoke to on the phone yesterday, the man who'd agreed to meeting Edward early next week. Why would he come over today? And how did I not know this plan had been made? "Did I miss his phone call?"

"He called my cell phone. Just don't be alarmed if he's here when you get back."

"Um... okay..."

_0-0_

"He's up to something," I said with a mouth full of vegetable fried rice, "but I can't understand why he won't tell me."

"Why do you think he's hiding something?"

"Because I know Edward and I know when he's up to something! I think it's something to do with a man who phoned yesterday, Mr. Holmes - he's meeting Bossman today but they booked the meeting without me knowing."

"Mr. Holmes?" Angela repeated my words like a parrot. "Do I know him?" With a spoon filled to the brim with chicken noodle soup, she asked her question, then shoved it into her mouth.

"Maybe? His name is... um... oh, God dammit... Carter, I think? Carter Holmes?"

"Doesn't ring any bells to me."

"Then why do I know him?!" I slapped my hands down onto the solid table, "why is he so familiar to me?"

Angela shrugged but continued to eat, "Google him - see what results come up, and then if that doesn't help you're probably over-thinking the whole scenario."

I took another mouthful of my lunch - because food solves every problem - and then typed his name into my Google search bar and... "you have got to be fucking kidding me."

_0-0_

I wasn't sure how to feel. Part of me was angry, so fucking angry, but the other part was confused - why would he do this behind my back? Carter Holmes was Edward's former boxing coach, he was the reason Edward rose to professional level; he taught him everything he knew. When I saw a picture of the man in question I instantly remembered where I had seen him before - Edward has a photo framed in his office of the two of them standing in the ring, shortly after winning a fight. I knew he was thinking about rejoining the sport, but I said not to keep me in the dark, and it seemed as though he had done just that.

"How do you know he hasn't contacted Mr. Holmes for Lily's training?" Angela suggested on our walk back to the office.

"Because Edward is her coach."

"Yes, but no matter how brilliant he is, the man can't coach his daughter and run a million dollar business at the same time."

Her idea was logical and I did brew it over, however I still had that same uneasy feeling in the pit of my gut. Either Mr. Lee's egg roll was passed its best, or Edward was doing something extremely stupid.

I was pleased to see that Mr. Holmes was nowhere to be seen when I arrived back from my lunch, I all but threw Edward's sandwich onto his desk and sat down angrily on the spare seat. My arms crossed tight beneath my tits.

"Am I missing something here...?"

"Are these meetings with Mr. Holmes all to do with you getting back in the ring?"

"Bell-."

"Tell me the truth." I spat.

Bossman thought over his answer for a couple seconds, his eyes looked over the desk that separated us. "Yes. I can't kid myself anymore, Bella. This is what I need to do."

"And when were you going to tell me about this? Why are you being so secretive?"

Instead of answering my question Edward stood from his seat and slowly walked around to where I sat. He dropped down to his knees, "because I didn't want to see this look on your face. I was going to tell you when I was certain the plan was going ahead."

_Well, don't I feel like shit._

"Whatever happens, Bella, I promise that whatever we have won't change."

"Promise?"

Edward rose slightly so that his arms trapped me in my chair. He kissed my lips chastely, "I promise. If anything it'll make us stronger - I wouldn't be your bossman anymore; people won't frown upon us."

"Correction. You'll always be my Bossman."

_0-0_

**The next chapter will be a small time jump, and I'm so excited for what is install. If you would like to see a sneak peek, then check out RosieRathbone FanFiction on Facebook to see the picture I made.**

**Thank you for reading, please let me know if you're still here? x **


	30. Angus

There is a reason why this took longer than planned, but that can wait until a later date. This chapter holds a small time jump, but nothing too confusing. I hope you enjoy it.

I don't own Twilight or OITNB, but boy I wish I did. Alex Vause, need I say more?

**CHAPTER THIRTY.**

**BELLA.**

Since the minute Bossman exposed his dirty little secret and what he had been planning with Mr. Holmes, everything seemed to change quickly. First of all Alice flew over from Boston, eager as a beaver to take over Edward's role - another thing which had supposedly been planned behind my back. I knew that Alice was the top candidate to take his seat, but nothing had been set in stone and I would have liked to be a part of the decision. And as much as I disliked the idea of Edward leaving, he promised me that he'd still be a part of the company, he simply wouldn't have the same amount of work and stress on his shoulders.

So it had been roughly two months since Alice and Jasper flew over and she was officially CEO of Brandon and Cullen Agencies New York (along with Princess Cullen, of course). She kept me as her PA, which I appreciated, and I very much enjoyed her company. We found ourselves having coffee dates with Princess in Alice's office which first came as a bit of a surprise to me, but who'd have thought that Rosalie has some sweet ass humor? Seriously, I've almost fucking peed from the things that she says. Like Momma always said, '_don't judge a book by it's cover'. _Momma also taught me that there is nothing wrong with drinking tequila before ten in the morning... but we'll forget about that one for now.

Bossman now spends his days in his gym or meetings with Mr. Holmes; they are up to something again and I planned on finding out from Lily this evening. Talking about Kid, she's started at her new school and so far couldn't say a bad word about it. She's made a friend called Bethany and has confessed to me that she's taken a liking to one of the boys in her gym class. I was happy for her, of course, but I made sure Lily knew that nothing was happening with that boy until I gave him a once-over and made sure he was good enough for my girl.

Lily thinks he should be worried about Bossman meeting him, but I'm the real threat here. Don't fucking mess with these bad boys.

But the biggest highlight of the whole thing has got to be every time I watch Edward training in the gym. It's like a scene from any boxing movie (surprisingly enough). Y'know the bit where the star realizes what they have to do in order to win their fight and it's just five minutes of them working with their trainer, you'll hear some motivational music in the background, and all you pay attention to is the muscles... the bulging muscles, gleaming in sweat... Oh yes, that is my view.

Not that I get turned on by sweat, 'cause that's fucking disgusting, but just the image of Bossman pounding his fists into the air or against certain objects and my mind instantly falls into the gutter and I picture what else he could pound... Not gonna lie, all this working out has improved his technique behind closed doors, not that he ever _lacked _in technique, but y'know what I mean. I'm pretty sure there's a dent in the wall from the headboard... but enough about that! I actually have some work to do, so any more of this dangerous talk and I won't get anything productive done. But then I guess it depends on what I mean by 'productive'.

Oh fuck. I digress.

_0-0_

"Now if I push forward with my right fist and follow through with my left, what's the best thing for you to do?"

I sat on the side lines and watched as father and daughter trained together. In slow motion Edward acted out his moves and Lily reacted whichever way she thought best. She bent down and dodged under Edward's right arm before shooting her left fist forward in pretense to punch Edward straight in the jaw.

_Not the jaw! Anything but that jaw! _

"That's good!" Bossman praised all whilst continuing to 'fight', "just watch your feet when you dodge with that kind of speed - the last thing you need is to trip over your own feet and give your opponent an advantage."

I was too busy watching them in the ring that I almost missed the vibrating of my phone, thankfully it was only Alice calling, 'cause I was in no fit state to act professionally. "Hello," I answered with a smile.

_"__Hey, Bell; I'm not interrupting you, am I?"_

"No, no - I'm just at the gym."

_"__You're at the gym? Like, where people put effort in to get fit?" _

"Har-har, you funny little fucker. I'm at Bossman's gym, watching them work out."

Alice's high pitched giggle filled my ear, _"do you think you could come over to the house? That is if you can peel yourself away from him." _

"Well I don't know if you have seen Bossman's ass, Alice, but it's not something one can easily ignore. I'm totally kidding, I'll be over shortly."

_"__Brilliant; thank you, Bella. Also we haven't eaten yet so feel free to bring Taco Bell with you." _

"Alice, my dear, you clearly don't know me well enough yet. I could have just had a three-course meal and I'd still stop off at Taco Bell. All the workers know me by name. I'm friends with plenty of them on Facebook."

_"__Do you even go on Facebook? I thought you said you hated social networking." _

"I do. But no friendship is official until it's Facebook official."

_"__Ha! So true! Anyway, I'll see you here soon, yes?"_

"Yep! See you then." With a loud groan I heaved my fat ass up off the floor and collected my gear that sat around me. Lily and Bossman were still working away and didn't notice my presence until I paused the music that played overhead.

"Are you away?" Edward asked as he wiped the dripping sweat from his forehead.

"Yeah, I need to go and see Alice for a bit."

"Okay, but you'll be back after though, right?"

_Aww, cute little Bossman and his puppy eyes. _"Yes, Boss."

He leaned over the ropes and I rose onto my tip-toes to meet him in the middle for a brief kiss, "don't be gone too long, Love." He whispered.

"I'll try not to be. Bye Kid!"

"Bye, Bella!" 

_0-0_

My meeting with Alice was like any other work date - we put our heads together and worked ways around various issues regarding clients, planned meetings and social events and ate lots of Taco Bell . Like, a disgusting amount of Mexican food.

What with recently moving to New York, Alice and Jasper hadn't found a house to properly settle down with and were currently bouncing from one apartment to another finding out which one was best for them. This was the first time I had been in their current living quarters and it made my house look like a shit hole. It was like Bossman Manor had been squashed down into one apartment. I guess that's what life is like when you're in charge of a multi-million-dollar company.

I would describe it as 'white' or 'therapist', because it held the sort of furniture you'd see in a therapists office; sleek white leather seats, a weird fucking bed thing, a couch which matched the seats and bed. Everything was _'on point' _ or '_on fleek' - _is that was kids are saying these days? I dunno. I'm too old for that shit. But no, the living room/study was surrounded entirely by windows with a view that over-looked the surrounding city. Accents of lime green were added in the form of throws and cushions to break up the almost entirely white room. I hadn't been in the other rooms, because I had no reason to go in them, but I could imagine they probably looked just the same.

"Y'know what would make this apartment even better? A cat!" I felt myself shake with happiness at the thought of cats. That is just how sad I really am. "Your life will be sorted with a furry little friend."

Alice thought over my idea and I could spot the gleam of excitement in her eyes, "I would love to get a pet but Jasper doesn't like cats, and I don't think this place allows them."

"Well I'm sorry Alice, because you are missing out on something brilliant. Have I told you the story of how I met Angus? It was after I moved here and he kept on turning up at my door begging for food and some loving attention. I first thought the wee guy belonged to another family but liked to test the boundaries and see where he could get more food, but one day he made his way into my house and refused to leave."

"Poor Angus." Alice looked genuinely upset.

"I know. So I put up flyers etcetera, etcetera, but no-one claimed him. I took him to the vets and made sure he wasn't dying of some deadly disease (fortunately he wasn't) and... the rest is history. He's been with me ever since and grows fatter by the day. My snuggly little Angus."

Alice held onto her stomach as she laughed a giggly, pixie-like laugh. "He's got such a random name; I love it."

"It's not that random actually. We were watching Brave (because Disney makes everything better) and that Scottish chick has a horse called Angus. He was her loyal companion, and I felt like Angus was mine."

"Not random... okay, Bell, whatever you say."

I chose not to rise at Alice's remark and act the bigger person. "Anyway that reminds me that Angus is at Bossman's right now, so I should probably go before Edward loses his shit and kills my baby." I had informed Alice of Edward's hatred for my cat, so she understood what I meant.

"Will you ever stop calling him 'Bossman'? Because technically I am now your Bossman."

"You have a point," I admitted whilst packing up my various bits and bobs, "but that nickname is not just for the office - Edward is 'Boss' in other areas too..."

_Know what I mean? You know what I mean._

And so did Alice. "Oh God!" She screamed, "right, just go!"

_A tip for life. When you ever need to get out of a situation, like a meeting, drop a sex joke. You'll be free to go. _

_0-0 _

It was nearing 9:30 when I got back to Bossman Manor and two of my favorite people were found in the kitchen helping themselves to something from the fridge. Angus was curled up on one of the bar stools and he gave me a '_this-is-my-seat-bitch' _face.

"Has he been fed?" I asked scratching my baby's head and ignoring his silent plead to be left alone.

"I thought we could leave him to starve. The thing is fat enough." I could tell Edward was joking, but I still flipped him the bird. Bastard deserved it. I know I call Angus fat but that is only because he is my cat. No-one else has the right to bully him like that. And anyway he's not even fat, he's just lazy like me.

"Don't listen to Dad, Bella - I fed him."

I squeezed Lily in my arms, 'cause it had been far too long since I last got to hug my girl. "How can an arrogant asshole like yourself father such a beauty like Lily? One of life's unanswered questions."

"Okay, I'm going to leave you two to argue. I'm going to bed." I kissed Lily on the head the let her go so she could do with same with Edward. "Night, Dad."

"Goodnight, my girl. I love you."

_Aah, my God! I cannot cope with this!_

_It's just like... boom, ovaries gone. _

_0-0_

"Come on, Love. You've seen this episode before so you know what happens." Edward was trying to get some sleep but I was taking advantage of the giant fucking television he had installed in front of the bed. And get this... it comes with Netflix! Dude, I'm in my happy place. Ruby Rose on wide screen? Um, yes please.

"Edward, have you not been watching? Pennsatucky is about to attack Piper with a handmade crucifix! One of them might die!"

"But you know that they don't... Can you not turn '_Orange Is The New Black' _off for one night?"

"Can you not be an asshole for one night? Some things aren't that simple."

Instead of replying with words, Edward took matters into his own hands. Literally. The snaking of his arm across my stomach was almost enough for me to pause the TV. Almost. The final straw was when his hand began to slide lower until it reached the elastics of my bed shorts.

_I'm sorry, Pennsatucky. You are a wacky bitch and I love you for it, but a girls got needs. Needs that only Bossman can provide._

_0-0_

I love Saturdays, have I mentioned that before? It's like, we can wake up whenever our bodies are ready to wake up and the only thing you have to worry about is whether you can lie there for five minutes before running to the bathroom. Sometimes you are blessed without the need to pee and you can lie there like a dead worm, taking in the morning sun.

"Really, Bella?" My blissful mood was ruined at Edward's irritation. Turns out he hadn't expected to see Angus sleeping between us. "No, that's not on."

"I'm sorry, Boss; he always sleeps with me. It's a natural habit for him." I was genuinely sorry. I know Edward doesn't like him and yet he still puts up with a lot of Angus' crap. Literally. "Up you come, baby." My hands curled under Angus' warm stomach and brought him to my chest for a brief hug. His purring warmed my heart something awful. "Mr. Bossman wants his bed back now, so you'll need to respect his wishes."

Angus twisted his head round to give Edward a look that probably said _'I-will-shit-in-your-shoes' . _He let me put him to the floor and plodded off in a cat-huff. Still without the need to pee, I snuggled down against Bossman's perfect chest in a zone of relaxation as he smoothed my hair back with his hand. This is life.

"I can't get too comfy unfortunately - Carter will be here by ten to get some training fitted in."

The time at that moment was nine o'clock, still plenty of time. "What are you training for?"

"Well, nothing has been confirmed yet, but there is a chance that I'm going to take part in a series of charity matches. And before you start shouting at me my name was only put in yesterday, so I haven't kept anything from you."

_Like I would shout at him... Okay, I totally would._

"There's a high chance you'll be picked though, right?" I tried not to let the fear creeping inside to effect me. I had to seem supportive, which I was but the idea scares me like nothing else.

"Why would you think that?"

"Um, because you're The Bruiser? You were the top dog back in your day - I remember coming home to my Dad really getting into your fights. The organizers would be stupid not to include you."

"Thank you, love," he said with a kiss to my crown, "you won't mind if I am picked and I accept it?"

"Of course not. I'll be scared but this is who you are, and I appreciate that." Walking away wasn't an option for me anymore.

"Thank you. And you'll be there for me even if I get knocked out in the first round and everyone laughs at me?"

With a laugh I readjusted my position in order to give Edward a proper kiss and whispered, "always."

_0-0_

**Shit is about to get fun! I have made a playlist on Spotify featuring the music Lily and Bossman use when training if you are interested in listening to it. The playlist name is 'Are You Ready', or you can find it under my name - Rosie Lockwood.**

**Now, I know some of you might bring up lemons or a 'citrusy chapter', but all I can say to that is I'm no fucking E.L. James, okay? I've never been able to write a lemon and I have found myself getting quite stressed and anxious whenever I have written one only because I know you'll be reading it and I need to make it 'perfect'. I'm finding it very hard to stay on this site and complete these stories for you, so from now on there's going to be no "**_I'll fill up the chapter with a lemon" _**type scenes. And if you don't like that then I'm sorry... I can give you a list of fics which can meet your needs more than I can. I try and put the most into these chapters, and that's all I can do. **

**Thank you for reading, I honestly really do appreciate your feedback and if you left a review that would mean the world. **


	31. James Huntsman

**Just like in the first chapter, you are about to witness boxer-bossman in all his fine glory. There are some tense times ahead, so curse words will be a common occurrence. There has been another jump in time, we are now 3-4 months later. **

**CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE.**

**EDWARD 'THE BRUISER'.**

The music played loud in my ears. So loud, I don't think the volume could get much higher. But that is what I need. Focus. No distractions.

I was all alone in the locker room. Bella and Lily were standing outside, but they were too much of a distraction for me. The ones you love the most will always be your biggest weakness. It was the third set of the charity matches (the quarter finals) and I needed to do whatever I could to stay in the zone I had built around myself, I knew I was slowly slipping, but I refused to let that control my fight.

My right hand tensed at my side. The throbbing pain in my knuckles only seemed to get worse and that was not a good sign. But I didn't do all this training to get knocked out in the third set.

I have no idea how long I stayed in that room with music constantly blaring through the headphones, I couldn't even remember which artists or specific songs played; I didn't pay attention to that. All I do remember is Carter (my coach) tapping me on my shoulder to announce his presence, he then proceeded to tape up my hands, but I closed my eyes again and allowed the music to transport me back to my zone. I don't even remember him slipping my gloves on or tying them to my wrists.

A nudge on my shoulder told me that it was time to go. I stood from the bench and pulled the headphones from my ears. Music wasn't going to help anymore. If I wasn't in my mental zone by the time I left that room, I'd never be in it. That was just how I worked - every athlete had a different way to prepare themselves.

Carter began his pep talk and said anything he knew I needed to hear. "Focus, Edward; you've got this. Don't concentrate on anything apart from that man in front of you. Learn his weaknesses and feed off that. His weakness is your strength. Leave your mark - your name ain't The Bruiser for nothing."

I nodded, sent off a silent prayer to the sky, then put in my mouth guard. Bella had bought me this one specially. The mouth guard had a set of teeth printed over the black plastic, but the incisors were vampire fangs. Her idea behind it was I could shoot a grin at my opponent and the fangs would mean that I meant business, but what it actually meant was that I was too fucking whipped to say no to her and wear something else.

God, that girl - she was my fucking rock. Through the months of training I had to endure, she stood along side me and never once complained. "Date nights" were hard to come by and even when a free evening came up and I suggested something, nine out of ten times Bella would have us include Lily too. She put my daughter before everything, and I wouldn't want it any other way.

My girls. That is who I was doing this for.

I wasn't doing this for the champion belt or the prize money for my chosen charity. Sure that would all be brilliant, but I wanted my girls to be proud of me. As long as they were proud and supported me whether I won or lost, that was what I did this for. There was a knock at the door and speak of the devil, in walked Bella and Lily. I brought Lily in for a hug first and made her promise that she would leave the arena if things got rough. I hated her watching my matches, but there wasn't much I could do.

"Dad, I've been in your shoes. It's nothing I haven't seen before."

"No, my girl," I mumbled into her hair, "this is a whole new league. When I tell you to leave, you do as I say, got it?" I felt her head nod underneath my chin. "Good girl. I love you."

"I love you too, Dad. Go kick that guy's ass."

Bella didn't say anything, but she didn't have to. I knew from the look in her eyes that she was scared shitless and would have rather I was doing anything else but this, but she was here to support me and I couldn't have been more thankful.

"Just... don't get hit too much."

"I'll try my best, love."

"Okay... and if that fucker hurts you I'll find out where he lives and make a broken jaw feel like a scratch."

"He better sleep with one eye open then." I spotted Carter standing off to the side of Bella taping his wrist as a way of saying my time was up. "We gotta go... but I'll see you at the end."

"Come back to me in one piece, please."

I dropped some sweet kisses to her lips and then one to the crown of her head. "I'll do what I can."

_I love you._

_0-0_

**BELLA.**

Lily and I sat in the reserved seating in front of Edward's corner - the red corner. This was the worst part of the whole thing, the waiting. Butterflies conjured up a mess in my stomach and I was close to running to the restrooms to take a nervous dump. Do you find that? Whenever nerves get a hold of your body you instantly have the need to shit, it's the same with when you're moments away from doing something special or important and _bam! _you need to pee. But unfortunately I had no time to take a dump or pee, 'cause the show was about to start.

"Are you sure you still want to do this as your career? There is still time to change your mind, y'know?" God how I wished I had some sort of control over Lily and that she'd listen to everything I said.

In response Lily waved her hands towards the ring and the full audience, "seriously, Bell? How is this not exciting to you?"

"Um... because I wouldn't include watching the man I love have the shit beaten out of him in my top ten things to do." I rolled my eyes at the cheesy grin she gave me in return. Yes, you heard correctly. She who has no emotion has fallen in love. Go on, point fingers and say '_I told you so', _'cause that is exactly what Angela did when she squeezed the secret out from me. It was no surprise to Lily though - I can't keep anything from my girl.

"You _so _need to tell Dad! Like, tonight!"

"What, do you want me to pause the fight mid-punch in order to tell him?"

"No... you could just wait until it's over...? But stop stalling, Bella! Otherwise I'll tell him."

The lights began to dim which put an end to that conversation, but it only made the butterflies and nervous dump more prominent. A spotlight appeared on the commentator who stood in the middle of the ring looking very smart and dapper in a navy blue suit.

"Laaadies and gentlemen!" His deep voice echoed around the entire arena, welcoming us to the fight and gave us a quick run-down of what was about to happen. He liked to draw out his words for a more dramatic effect. "And nooow, it's time to meet the champions! In the blue corner, weighing in at approximately one-hundred and eighty pounds, the Washington State Champion of 2003, Jaaaames _'The Hunter' _Huntsssmannn!"

A light came on from the other side of the arena, followed by loud music and James' appearance. Many people around me cheered and 'whoop'ed at his arrival, I even noticed Lily clapping just out of good sportsmanship, but I did no such thing. Sorry, but I refuse to applaud anyone who's about to beat up my man. He climbed into the ring, shook of the silk robe and began to loosen up his muscles. These warm-ups before the fights actually start are like giant pissing contests - whose dick is bigger and all that shit.

"Annd in the red corner, weighing in at approximately one-hundred and eighty-five pounds, the New York State Champion of 1998, Edwaard _'The Bruiser' _Cuullennn!"

Edward walked out to the song 'Back in Black' by AC/DC, and I may be biased, but it definitely sounded as though more people were cheering for Bossman... and I was quite okay with that. Like what James did, Edward removed his robe and shared a short conversation with Carter. Before the referee called them to attention, Edward turned to look at Lily and I and briefly tapped his heart. It was something he started doing at the first round. He didn't have to say a single word; we both knew what he meant.

The referee (whose name I couldn't catch) brought them together, "I want a nice clean fight, okay?" Neither James nor Edward agreed, but they were too busy psyching each other out. See, told you - it's one giant pissing contest. "Touch gloves," Bossman pounded his glove against James' and then the fight began.

Now, funnily enough, I'm no boxing expert. To me it's just two guys punching each other, but Lily could instantly tell that Edward had taken a quick lead and appeared much stronger than James Huntsman. The first round was over after three minutes and apart from sweat gleaming across his entire body, Edward looked fine. Carter gave him some water, cleaned down his face a little and had another quiet conversation before Edward was up off his stool and eager to start round two.

"Is he okay?" I asked as Carter sat back down beside us.

"He's fine. Nothing to worry about."

I could see a difference in the second round. It appeared that Huntsman had the advantage and was the stronger of the two. It could have been that Edward had used up too much energy in the first round and was using this round to take a breather (so to speak), but I wasn't entirely sure that was true.

"C'mon Dad." Lily her hands balled tight into a fist and up close to her lips. "Stop hiding!" She called louder, "fight back!" From the noise that surrounded us I knew Edward couldn't hear us, but it seemed that way when he instantly stepped back, dropped his guard, and began to pound his fists wherever he could.

The rounds flew by and whenever I asked Carter how he was doing, I always received the same response "_he's fine". _That was until the bell went on round 6, and I noticed a new addition to Edward's face. A red line that started at his eyebrow and travelled down to the bottom of his eye.

"Is that blood?! Tell me that's not blood!" I demanded to Carter, but he ignored my wailing and instead of answering me he headed over to Edward, along with a few other people who tend to help with injuries. "That fucker made him bleed." I couldn't remember the last time I felt that angry. I think it might have been when we saved Lily from Lauren's house... well they both can go fuck themselves.

"Bella, it's just a cut eyebrow. Look at the other man!"

_How can she be so calm over this? Now is not the time to be calm, now is the time to freak out and scream bloody murder. _

I had to admit that Edward had done a number on James' face. It was a beautiful sight.

"You've got this Bossman!" I yelled as round 7 began.

Round 7. When everything went wrong. It was only three minutes, and they were the worst three minutes of my life. James took advantage of the cut on Edward's eye and part from a couple jabs in the ribs, he aimed solely at that wound.

"Watch the eye! Keep it covered!" Carter would yell. Nothing seemed to work and soon half of his face was covered in blood.

"His nose is bleeding - look." Lily spotted, but I couldn't look. I squeezed Lily's hand and stared at my shoes until the thing was over with. I thought I would have managed, but watching Bossman bleed all over the place was too much.

It felt like hours before the bell rang, but the second it did Carter and his men were in the ring seeing to Edward's face. Lily and I sat motionless with our hands still gripped together when one of the guys caught our attention and waved us over. With a weak hand Edward pointed at Lily and said, "I don't... want you watching this... Please go to the locker room... we'll find you when it finishes."

"No! I'm not going anywhere."

"Lillian... do as I say."

_Ooh shit. Bossman never calls her Lillian anymore, only when he's really angry. _

"I'm not going anywhere. I love you Dad, and I'm staying until the very end. I'm stronger than you may think."

The guys wiped away all the blood and covered his cuts in some weird cream thing, then put (what looked like) Q-tips up each nostril. I think it was help control the bleeding, but I wasn't too sure. I was just impressed that they could do that to him without him sneezing all over the place. _Gotta love a good sneeze though, right? _They finished the procedure by adding butterfly strips along the cut by his eye.

"These won't work miracles, so keep yourself protected and do what you can to stay on your feet. You've got at least another round in you; don't give up yet."

Edward looked at both Lily and myself before heading back out there. We didn't say anything, he knew what we were thinking and knew that we would love him whether he won the fight or lost the fight. Nothing like that mattered to us, just his safety.

_0-0_

The fight lasted for ten rounds in total, and unfortunately James came out as the victor, however I was fine with that because I never wanted to witness anything like that again. I knew he'd be disappointed, and I'd need to deal with a grumpy Bossman, but in time he'd learn to get over it.

We were able to go home as soon as Edward was ready to. Thankfully, because these were only charity matches, we didn't have to deal with the press and interview, after interview, after interview. There were some, of course, but nothing of great scale. Josh had the car waiting outside and we were soon on our way, we passed a Taco Bell and I didn't even look twice at it _(I know, what the fuck?) _Bossman needed his bed and I wasn't the one to delay that any longer.

By the time I had said goodbye to Carter, made sure Lily was settled in her room and had secured the house, Edward was fast asleep. It was only nine o'clock, but the stress of today had taken it out on all of us that we all wanted some sleep. I set up a glass of water and some Advil in case he woke up before me.

_0-0_

The next morning I woke up to the dipping of the mattress and the sound of pain and struggle from the man beside me. "Here," I stepped straight from the bed and hurried over to his side, "let me help me." As reluctant as Edward was to receive my help, he knew I wasn't going to give up, so he sank back into the pillows with a groan and accepted the water and pain killers I passed over. I loved looking after people. Before my Dad passed away I basically acted like his carer and did everything for him. I suppose it was just in my nature to help.

"Are you okay?" I asked, stroking his hair away from his face. His face had become so swollen that I was scared to touch anywhere apart from his hair incase I hurt him.

"Honestly? No. No I'm not okay."

I wanted to cry. I seldom feel emotions and I very rarely cry, but his honesty broke me. "What can I do?" I asked, the break in my voice was all too clear.

Edward turned his head to look at me, he was quiet for a moment before mumbling the word, "stay?"

I cuddled back into my side of the bed and leaned over to place three small, light, kisses onto his lips, "You'd be an idiot if you thought I was going to go anywhere else, Boss."

_0-0_

**Poor Bossman :( but at least he has Bella and Lily there to look after him!**

**Thanks for reading, please leave a review telling me what you thought?**


	32. Slim Shady

**A quick thank you for getting me past 2,000 reviews. This is the first story of mine that has ever reached that milestone, so I am exceedingly grateful. **

**CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO**

**BELLA**

_"__Guess who's back? ...Back again...Bella's back...Tell a friend... Now everyone report to the dance floor, to the dance floor, to the dance floor. Now everyone report to the dance floor. Alright stop! Pajama time." _

"Bella?"

_"__...Good God, dip, do a little slide. Bend down, touch your toes and just glide. Up the center of the dance floor, like TP for my bunghole, and it's cool if you let one go. Nobody's gonna know, who'd hear it? Give a little 'poot poot', it's OK! *fart sound* oops my CD just skipped, and everyone heard you let one rip." _

"-Bella!"

With a startle I dropped the tongs that were in my hand, yanked the earbuds from my ears and spun around to meet an amused Lily. She was dressed in her sophisticated-looking school uniform with a messenger bag over one shoulder and a gym bag by her feet. "I hope you're bloody proud of yourself," I said with a grin, "you just about gave me a goddamn heart attack, Kid."

"Y'know there is a speaker you could have plugged your phone into? Maybe that way you would have heard me approaching."

"Alright smart ass. Would you like some breakfast?" The bacon that sizzled and popped in the pan and the eggs that were waiting to be scrambled were technically for Bossman, but if Lily wanted some I was more than happy to make more.

"No, I'm okay thanks. I think I'm going to have granola then Josh will be driving me to school."

"I can drive you if you want? Save Josh a trip."

"It's fine; you stay here with Dad."

"Suit yourself, Kid. However, now that you are in here, you will need to put up with my playlist..." This time I did use the kitchen speakers and introduced Lily to Eminem's greatest hits. We had had a conversation previously about our music tastes and she told me then that Lauren did not appreciate "dirty rap music", which I found quite ironic. She comes across all _Sister Christian, _when in actual fact that bitch is a walking advertisement for STDs.

I digress. Basically I had to make up for lost time, so I started with songs that everybody should know - Lose Yourself, My Name Is, Just Lose It... you get my point. I also found out that she had never seen 8 Mile, so we made plans to change that. "Trust me, Lil', you'll finish watching the movie with a whole new look on 'dirty rap music', and for the next few days all you'll be singing is '_now everybody in the 313 put your motherfucking hands up and follow me!' _and '_what's the matter dog, you embarrassed? This guy's a gangster? His real name is Clarence." _

Lily's covered her face with her hands and groaned.

"A piece of advice - you don't mention Eminem around me, unless you wish to hear a rendition of every damn piece of work he's ever created. Your father learnt that a long time ago. Now, speaking of your father, I better get my ass upstairs with this food. Have fun at school!" I left Lily to her cereal, but as I went up the stairs I shouted "chika-chika Slim Shady!" her laughter was heard coming from the kitchen.

_0-0_

"You okay, baby?" It sucked ass to see Edward's face so swollen and how hard he found it to simply sit up in bed. This is exactly why I didn't want him to get back into that ring, and why I dread Lily doing the same thing. I sat the plate of food on the side table along with the fresh cup of coffee. "Can I get you anything else?"

"No, I'm fine - thank you."

Edward was in the sort of mood where it was best for me to leave him; I knew he would ask if he needed anything. "Okay, well I'm gonna take a shower." I dropped a brief kiss on his head, then left for the bathroom. The power shower did fucking wonders to my body - yesterday was a long day. I had planned on washing my hair and shaving all my bits and pieces but y'know when you get into a shower and you just can't be fucked? Yeah, that was me. My hair can survive another day, plus I don't resemble Big Foot just yet, so I should be fine.

No, instead I lay against one wall and allowed the water to drench me until it ran cold. I did use shower gel however. Not shaving is one thing, but not washing... _that shit is nasty. _It's like not putting deodorant on in the morning; it's not worth smelling like a sour asshole for the rest of the day. Listen to Shia LaBeouf in that weird motivational speech thing he did... _just do it! _

But anyway, enough about daily hygiene rules, let's get back to the real world, yeah? I left the bathroom and headed over to the wardrobe where Edward had made me keep some spare change of clothes - I kept my outfit simple and comfy; a green tank top with one of Bossman's old hoodies overtop and a pair of black yoga pants. I like the fact that I bought myself yoga pants when I have never stepped foot on a yoga mat, or plan to for that matter. I'm kind of like Joey from Friends - _these are my Thanksgiving pants. _They have helped me through many a Taco Bell overload.

During the time that it took to get changed Angus had snuck himself into the room and had parked his fat ass on my side of the bed, right next to a sleeping Edward. "C'mon buddy," I wrapped my arms under Angus' belly, "let's leave Mr. Edward alone."

From next to me came a tired sigh and Edward's sleepy words; "just leave him, Bell."

_Excuse me? Have these two kissed and made up since I was gone? _"Really?"

"He's only going to come back again anyway." I nodded my head in agreement but I don't think he saw that. "What time is it?" He asked as I was unplugging my iPhone from the charger.

"It's a little after eight."

"Okay... I guess you'll be going to the office then?"

I went round to the other side of the bed in order to kneel down at Edward's level and softly stroked his hair back. I knew that wouldn't cause him any discomfort. "No, I told Alice I was going to stay and work from here today. But is it okay if I work in your office?"

"Of course you can, love. Are you signing in at eight-thirty?" Because I wasn't going to be in the office I had to sign in through my laptop to show that I was working and I was available to answer calls or reply to emails. Whatever I needed to do.

"Yeah, so I should probably go. Lily has gone to school and I've asked Siobhan not to come until lunch time. I'll be downstairs if you need anything, okay? Just gimme a bell."

"I will do, love. Thank you." I left Edward with a sweet kiss and made him promise that he would call me if he needed help with anything. That man can be a right stubborn bastard sometimes.

_0-0_

Most of the morning was spent on the phone to Alice, Rosalie and hundreds of various customers looking to book appointments in the near future. Thankfully because I was working from home that meant I could pick and choose my break times and I didn't feel as rushed to get stuff done. I checked on Edward a couple times, but apart from that I was stuck at the desk and my ear was glued to the phone. It was just before eleven when Angus plodded into the office, surprisingly followed by Edward. It seemed to take all of his energy just to take one step, so God knows how he managed it all the way down the stairs.

"You should have called me," I said as I stood from the seat, "I would have helped you." I slipped one of his arms around my shoulders in order for me to carry some of his weight.

"I'm used to this, Bell; I don't need your help."

"Sixteen years ago you would have been used to this. Time has changed now, Boss, so for once don't be a stubborn asshole and accept my help."

Edward rose his eyebrows and gave me a '_don't give me that bullshit' _smirk. "Oh, you mean like when I offer my help and you scream and shout saying everything is fine?"

"Touché, Boss."

We sat on the sofa for a little while, his arm stayed around my shoulder and it felt nice to just cuddle for a minute and not have to worry about the tidal wave of shit life constantly threw on us. That moment lasted for five minutes, and then Alice rang to disrupt it all. With a groan I heaved myself off the seat, grabbed my iPhone and took my place next to Edward again.

"Hello, Alice."

_"__Did you just get an email from Tyler Crowley?" _

"Crowley..." I thought, "head of the LA agency?"

_"__That's the one! Can you check if you received it, please?"_

"Sure, hang on a second." Thankfully my iPad was on a table next to us, so I barely had to move. Once it had loaded I tapped onto my email app. "Um... I don't see anything. Why, what does it say?"

_"__Basically Bella shit is going down in California - I don't know the full story yet - but he needs us to fly out there ASAP and help them sort it out." _

"Why did he choose us? We couldn't be further away if we tried."

_"__It's because we are the only agency that is run by two CEOs, so Rosalie can cover for me no problem, but nobody else has that advantage." _

"Right..." I rubbed away at my forehead in frustration. "When do we need to go? You said ASAP but is there a specific time?"

_"__I'm hoping you could find us a flight tomorrow morning." _

I tried very hard to keep the groan in and not have Alice see how much that irritated me. This is my job after all; it is what I signed up for. "Okay, I'll take a look and get back to you, Alice."

I hung up after Alice had said her parting ways, then all but threw my phone onto the couch. I was very, very angry. "Fucking hell," I mumbled under my breath, "she knew I wasn't going to be available for this kind of horse shit, and now she has me flying across the fucking country."

Edward rubbed my back in comfort, "you should be honored that you are invited. Most assistants stay behind because they have no use on that sort of trip, but Alice sees potential in you and that you'd be a great help."

"Thank you and everything, but I'm not going to just leave you here to fend by yourself."

"And you can't put your job on the line like this."

"But... but you're more important than some office job." I gave Edward my best puppy eyes in hope he would crumble and take my side. But in all honesty my words couldn't have been more true; this tiny family of father and daughter had become more important than anything. I am, of course, exceedingly fortunate for the job I have, but I would give it up in a heartbeat if it meant I could stay where I was and didn't have to fly across the country at the drop of a hat.

"Don't let my inability to piss by myself stop you from going. Plus, I don't think you have much of an option."

With my head on his shoulder I pulled my knees up to my chest and tried to forget all about Alice's unfortunate timing. Siobhan found us a few hours later in the same position, fast asleep.

_"__Shit," _I jumped up from my seat after realizing what I had done, and how long it had been. "I've missed ten calls. Goddammit."

"How are you doing, Edward?" Siobhan asked and patted his shoulder gently.

"I'm good - thank you; Bella has been a great help."

I tuned the two of them out in order to clear up my mess and make it seem as though I wasn't sleeping on the job. To say Alice was unimpressed when I finally phoned her back was a slight understatement. _"Bella, where the hell were you?" _

"I'm sorry, Alice - I had to assist Edward with something. I should have informed you."

_"__Yes, you should have. And what exactly takes the best part of two hours? Or maybe I don't want to know...?" _

You know what Alice? Fuck you. You insisted I took this time off, and now you're jumping down my throat after I give up my time to help you? That is what I wanted to tell her, but of course I did not, and went for a much safer option. "I know, I apologize. I'll get into looking for flight times immediately."

_"__Don't worry about that, Bella, I've already done it. Can you be ready at six-fifteen tomorrow morning? I'll have someone collect you from Edward's house." _

"Of course; I'll see you then."

Edward never moved from his couch, even when I was swamped under he still sat there. Granted it wasn't easy for him to go anywhere, but the idea that he wanted to stay with me made my stomach feel all bubbly and I couldn't blame it on Taco Bell for once, 'cause I hadn't indulged in days. That needed to change. I guess that's something I can look forward to about going to California. In-N-Out burger. Get in my belly.

Talking about food I took a lunch break when Siobhan came into the office with two large bowls of macaroni cheese in her hands. Not only had she made it from scratch, she also grilled off some bacon which was sprinkled over the top in tiny chunks. Told you this lady was a legend. This time I remembered to inform Alice I was signing off.

"I'll need to go back to my house shortly to pack a suitcase." I said with a mouth full of pasta.

"You sound so irritated with this, yet the number of times we've had to go somewhere you never once complained. Not to my face, anyway."

I gave him a '_fucking really, Boss?' _look. You know the one I mean. "Maybe that is because _you were there?_ I don't even know how long I'll be away for... I don't like being away from you and Lily..."

_Wow, I sure was turning into a sap._

"We don't like being away from you either, love. Don't worry, I'll sort something out."

"You'll sort something out, will you?" I smirked, "okay then."

However Edward was true to his word, and not even half an hour later my phone rang. I answered it hesitantly when I didn't recognize the number on screen. "Hello, Isabella Swan speaking?"

_"__Isabella, this is Carlisle Cullen. I hope I haven't called you at a bad time."_

What was I to say to that? Sorry, I'm in the middle of stuffing my face with food? No time is ever a bad time when it comes to Bossman's Bossman. "Of course not, Mr. Cullen. How can I help you?"

_"__I understand you'll be accompanying Alice Whitlock to LA tomorrow?" _

_How did he... Oh, I know how. _I shot a glance at Edward but he just rose his arms and shrugged like he had no idea why his father rang. "Yes, that is correct. I'm not entirely sure as to why but I know that Mr. Crowley would like us there soon."

_"__I see. Well the reason I rang was to say that I have managed to find you a replacement and they will take your place tomorrow." _

"I..." didn't quite know what to say, so it all came out in an unprofessional mumble. "I am, um, very grateful you're taking up your precious time to look through all of that, but, um... I am more than happy to go. So, um, there really is no need."

_"__You mention precious time, but, Isabella, you're putting all your time into caring for my son, correct?" _

"Um, yes. I-I mean... correct."

_"__And my granddaughter whilst Edward is unable, yes?" _

"Ooh, I wouldn't say that, Mr. Cullen; Lily is the most independent person I've ever met."

_"__Regardless of that you are still taking care of my family and nothing comes before them. I will see that you don't work until you feel comfortable leaving Edward by himself. I have informed Mrs. Whitlock of this sudden change and she understands that this was fully my idea and decision, so you should have no trouble."_

"Mr. Cullen... thank you. If I'm being completely honest I was worried about leaving and -."

_"__I understand that, and for the last time - stop calling me Mr. Cullen, okay?" _

The smile I heard through his words instantly made me feel lighter and the stress began to fade from me. "You've got it, Carlisle. Thank you again."

_"__No, thank you my girl." _

My phone was dropped onto the desk and forgotten about the second the call ended. Bossman stared at me with a sly grin, "told you I'd sort it," he winked.

"What did you do?" The biggest smile had appeared on my face and I hugged him as hard as I could without causing him any pain.

"A certain girlfriend of mine is rather fond of using a particular tactic whenever she wants something from me, so I decided to do the same but with my father instead. Who knew puppy eyes worked so well?"

I laughed out loudly and then kissed his lips once or twice... or several times... "You really are something else, Boss."

"That may be true but I'm also exceedingly greedy. You are now all mine until I'm fully healed, _ooh _and God knows when that will be. Find the handcuffs; you are officially my prisoner."

That was one of the many reasons why I loved that man. And I was determined to tell him... very soon.

_0-0_

**A slightly filler chapter, but I hope there was part of it which made you laugh or smile :) and is Edward finally warming up to Angus?! **

**Thank you again for reading, what was your favourite part? **


	33. Family

**CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE **

**BELLA**

Let me paint you a picture. Okay, so it was Saturday morning and like most mornings I woke up with a snoring Bossman on one side and a fat Angus on the other. Riveting story, right? I know; I bet you already have the popcorn out. But unlike most mornings I didn't have Alice phoning me every two seconds - weekends are my days off, yet she still phones me - and I didn't have Edward going for training with Lily and Mr. Holmes. It had been a week since the fight so he was doing much better and his muscles and joints were no longer as stiff and sore, but he was no-where near ready for training. Alice still happened to be in LA, so I said I would reprise my role once she returned.

But anyway, I'm getting off track. Back to the story. I knew Lily didn't have any plans until that evening when she was having a slumber party with a few girlfriends, so until that time came, we were going to make the most out of a free day. And that started with getting everybody up and breakfast down their throats.

Now I can't say I'm a good cook - _I'm no fucking Gordon Ramsay - _but I make award winning pancakes. Alright fine so I made up the award and I only won because... I was the only participant, but I still won! Anyway, with these pancakes I fry off some bacon, seek out the maple syrup, and cut up some strawberries. Lily came into the kitchen just as I was putting the fruit into a bowl. She had on her typical running outfit with an iPod slotted into a band that sat around the waist of her shorts.

"Wow Bella, it's not even eight o'clock on a Saturday morning and you're up making breakfast? Are you feeling okay?"

_Yeah, this time doesn't exist on my days off._ "Look, you cheeky shit, I have slaved all morning to make this for you, so none of your wise talk please." God I love that girl.

"I feel bad that I'm going for a run now... I'll be quick, I promise."

"It's alright, Kid - you take your time. But I have big plans for us today, so no disappearing off to the gym, got it?"

"Okay!" Lily threw her arms around my middle and I kissed her head as I returned the hug, "save me some bacon!" she called as she jogged out of the front door. Next on my list of things to do was to phone every staff member scheduled to come in today and tell them they had the day off. We could do without a gardener for a day, we didn't need a driver for anything, and I feel bad that Siobhan spends all of her time here - I like to treat her with surprise days off once in a while.

It also meant it could just be the three of us (four including Angus). Make it a real family day.

Lily stuck to her word and within twenty minutes she had returned again; usually she's gone for twice that amount of time. Whilst she was gone I had managed to wake the dead and get Edward from our bed, Angus was at his feet as he plodded down the stairs.

_I swear they are having some sort of secret affair - this shit ain't normal. _Either that or Angus could tell that Edward wasn't his normal self and staying around him was his way of offering comfort. I've found that whenever I'm sick or severely hungover Angus doesn't leave my side.

"If you want him to leave you alone Boss, just say - I don't want him to annoy you. Or... are you finally looking at my baby in a new light?" Due to the pancakes that had been recently shoved into his mouth Edward couldn't reply with words, instead he shook his head and smiled as a light laugh blew through his nose. I knew him well enough to know that that reaction meant I was right, but he didn't want to admit it. At least Angus can now lie on the bed during the day and Edward won't complain about the hairs that he leaves. And if he does I'll just say that they were mine.

_Yeah man, I didn't shave for like 5 months. My leg hair just started malting. Sorry. _

_0-0_

For our family day I suggested taking advantage of the pool that Bossman seldom uses - _heavy eye roll. _At the bottom of the backyard were two houses - one was were Siobhan lived along with the basement gym, and the other held nothing of importance until Edward finalized the plans to have it renovated into an indoor pool along with a sauna and hot tub. I remember thinking that he probably wouldn't use the pool much especially as he had the boxing ring - plus he barely had the time to use it - but I had not long started working for him at that time, so who was I to give an opinion? Now, it's not that he _never _uses the pool, I just feel like he could have put that money towards something else, y'know?

Lily couldn't have been happier to hear about our pool party and cheered that she had just bought a new bikini and was dying to use it. Edward, however, acted like your typical man and made an immature comment about me in a barely-there swimsuit. Unfortunately for him I don't wear a bikini. I never work out and live off fast food - that has caused one too many tootsie rolls to appear in my mid-section.

I turned up at the pool to witness Lily in the middle of taking a 'selfie' in her new emerald green two-piece, she stood with her back to the pool in order to get the perfect shot. It's funny how I (a 29 year old) differ from Lily (a 15 year old) in how we view our photos, don't you think? For example Kid needs to make sure her _'pout is on point' _(whatever the fuck that means) and if the filter isn't perfect then that shit was getting deleted instantly. But with me as long as you can only see one out of my ten chins then I'm cool with that.

"Smile!" I was too busy musing about my multiple chins that I never noticed Lily had picked me to feature in her next selfie. "Perfect Snapchat opportune!" I happily posed - anything to make Lily smile - and was surprised when my phone dinged with a Snapchat notification not even a minute later.

"Did you send that to me?" I laughed.

"I had to! It's the best photo of us ever." That made me realize that we don't have many pictures of Lily and I together. I had to change that. And she was right, of course; it was a lovely photo, but the caption she had added to it brought a few tears to my eyes. She had written "_my best friend" _and then added the kissing face emoji and heart.

_Ow, my heart just melted... _

"Christ Kid, what have I told you about tearing all my emotions up and making me cry?"

"Um... nothing?"

_Smart ass. _"Yeah, well, don't make it a regular thing... c'mere!" Those tears may have slipped out and ran down my cheeks when I held my girl tight in my arms, but she never realized and there was no evidence of my sappy moment by the time Bossman joined us... in nothing but a pair of board shorts. Every single muscle was on show.

_Oh yes, this pool party was a _very_ good idea. _

_0-0_

I had plugged in my speakers and setup my phone onto shuffle songs, so who knew what was about to play. Most of the time the music had been forgotten about, but it was nice to have that added soundtrack. Edward had made it his mission to throw me into the water, after successfully doing it to Lily, I was his next target. In all honesty I could have quite happily sat on the side and watched father and daughter mess about - I had seriously missed Edward's laid back attitude and his smile in the past couple weeks. It felt good to see it again.

After about an hour we took a break from the pool and sat on the loungers with Siobhan's homemade lemonade in plastic martini glasses. _I know, we have style. _Lily was the mastermind behind our drinks and had even cut a slit in some strawberries in order to slot them onto the sides. _Fucking cute. _It was as we were middle of an exciting conversation about what to have for dinner (food is my favorite topic) - when a song came on which Lily recognized from the opening tune, where as it took a little longer for Bossman and I.

"Edward," I whispered all seductively, "will you whip my nae nae?"

"What does that even mean?" He asked with an amused frown on his face.

"I don't know, but I think you should do it anyway." _Bossman loves a bit of the nae nae, I'm telling ya. _

_"_C'mon Bell, I'll teach you the moves." After much persuasion Lily hauled my ass off the lounger and started the song from the beginning again. I liked how the artist had to repeat his name several times, just incase we didn't catch it the first time. "So you wanna stand with your feet a shoulder-width apart, then on '_watch me whip', _you punch forward and on _'watch me nae nae', _you sorta wave your hand back. Here, I'll show you what I mean."

Along with the punching forwards and waving back she wiggled her hips in time to the music. Lily made the whole thing look easy; I, on the other hand, looked like I was trying to shake out a poo. Then there was a part where I was told to break my legs. I don't think this song is suitable for the younger audience, man. But once a Bella and Lily dance party has started, nothing can stop it. So it was no surprise that Lily took over my phone and searched for the next song. That time I didn't need someone to teach me the dance - when Gangnam Style was first released I played it constantly, and I now have those moves down to a T.

"Hey Boss, would you still find me attractive if I danced like this?" I copied Psy's famous move. You know the one I mean; when it looks like you're riding a horse for the first time - all uncoordinated and shit. "_Aayy, sexy lady!" _

"Bella," Lily spoke up through her laughter, "we should recreate the elevator scene. You can be Psy and I'll be the one that dances on top of you." Just that image alone had me curl over and bark out a laugh. "Or the pool one!" She yelled suddenly, "when he just appears from the water with those dark goggles on. Come on Dad, jump in!"

_Aah, my girl was becoming more and more like me everyday. I've never felt so proud. _

"I would pay good money to see you reenact this video, Bossman."

_0-0_

We had the pleasure of Lily's comfort until six o'clock that evening when I had offered to drive her to her friend's house for their slumber party. And you know what that means? Bossman and I will have the house to ourselves for the night! And so we were definitely taking advantage of that... I may even strip down naked and walk around the house with the puppies hanging free. I'm gonna go wild! Who knows what I'm going to do!

But until that moment came we decided to sit back and watch a movie and stuff our faces with take-out food. A meat feast pizza to be more specific. Our hardest decision was what movie to watch - I wanted to watch one thing, Lily wanted to watch another and Edward said that he wasn't fussed, but we all knew that was a load of bullshit. He didn't want to watch _Frozen, _but if Lily did then he was more than happy to go along with it. Bossman is a fucking sweetheart that way.

"That Anna chick always reminds me of you," I mumbled to Lily as we scrolled through all the various movie titles held on the television in order to find the Disney section. "It's that damn hair, man, and how you couldn't be more innocent if you tried."

Lily peered over at me and smirked, "do you wanna build a snowman?"

We comfortably sat and watched the animated movie all with serious food babies in our stomach. I may or may not have had the smallest nap on Edward's shoulder, but heavy food does that to me. Fill my stomach and I'll sleep like a baby. You might wanna rub my back too, just for comfort levels, y'know?

Towards the end of the movie we had all found ourselves lying on the couches like dead worms; none of us had the energy to move or do anything productive, even when Lily's phone rang she sat there and allowed it to ring out instead of getting up to answer it. But when it called back almost instantly she decided to answer it.

"Hello?" I assumed it would have been one of her friends talking about their slumber party that evening and so had decided to tune out her conversation and continue watching _Frozen, _but that was when things got weird. "How did you get my number?" Edward and I were suddenly on high alert. We knew from Lily's tone that she didn't feel comfortable speaking to whoever it was. "How did you get this number? I'm not going to ask you again, Eric."

_Eric._

_Oh, hell no. That old bastard better start fucking running._

_As long as his hips don't give up on him first that is. _

_0-0_

**Thank you for reading, please let me know what you thought? **


	34. Dollhouse

**Emotions run high in this one, and we get a little insight into the wonderful life of Lily... **

**CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR**

**LILY**

Just when you think everything is going the way you want it to, something has to jump up and bite you in the ass. I had what I always wanted and for the first time my life actually felt like the end of a Disney movie. No, I hadn't found my Prince Charming; but I was living the life I deserved and away from those who put me down. We had had the best day as a family and I was so looking forward to my first proper sleepover with my first proper group of friends, but then reality reared it's ugly face. I couldn't work out how Eric managed to get my number, and it angered me that he never gave me a specific answer. It had always been riddles with those two.

_"__Lillian, your mother would very much like to speak to you."_

"Oh yeah? Then why didn't she phone me herself? Why did she have you do all her dirty work?" In my peripheral vision I saw Dad and Bella watching me with deep concern, but I told myself not to pay too much attention. Their care and love for me would have no doubt made my walls crumble, and I had wanted to stay as strong as I could.

Once again Eric didn't answer my question and cut straight to the chase, _"would now be a good time to pass you over?"_

"No. Now _would not _be a good time. In fact, I never want to make time for either of you again. You never made time for me, so why should now be any different?"

_"__Lillian, this is -."_

A sudden surge of anger had me hang up on Eric with an angry punch of my finger. I had never hung up on anybody before, and I all of a sudden started to wonder why. Nobody said a word - unsure as what to say - but I was happy with the silence. I was trying to keep everything together and the slightest bit of concern would have had me break down in a crying mess.

"Pass me your phone, Lily." Dad suddenly broke the silence.

"Why? What are you going to do with it?"

"Sweetheart, please - just pass me your phone." After some hesitation I unlocked my phone and passed it over. Using his own cell, Dad dialed a number. The three of us waited in silence. "Mr. Sharpe, it's Edward Cullen, I have a small favor to ask of you..." At the sound of his name Bella groaned slightly. Who even is this Mr. Sharpe person? What does Dad want with him? "...I need you to trace a call for me."

"Who is that man? Why is he tracing the call?"

Bella thought over her answer before she voiced any sort of response. "Brody Sharpe is a PI - he was hired by your father and I when you were taken back to Seattle and we needed all the evidence we could to help get you back. He is great at what he does, but I had really hoped we didn't need his help anymore."

"Okay, but why do we need to trace the call?"

"Think about it, Kid. If Brody comes back and says that Eric called from Seattle, then that is fine. But what if they had just landed in New York? What if they were on their way here right now? We'd need to know."

I sat in silence and imagined all the various possibilities. Bella and Dad were right; we did need to know their whereabouts and what action to take, but before I could voice my concern my eyes clocked onto Dad as his finger scrolled up my phone screen slowly. "What are you doing?" I asked with the slight hint of irritation in the tone.

"I need to know exactly who has your number, because somebody is to blame for this shit storm." I didn't get the chance to reply before Dad spoke again, "these friends of yours, do you trust them?"

Now that _really _annoyed me. Throughout all my years growing up in Seattle I never felt truly accepted by the 'friends' I hung about with, and now that I've found some he had me doubting their trust. Thankfully Bella took my side, "Babe, come on - Old Man River would have had to go to some serious lengths to find out exactly who Lily is hanging about with at school. Please, be a bit more realistic. There must be another way he came across this number."

"_Be a bit more realistic?" _he copied, "I did whatever it took to ensure that this phone was safe and secure - so that this kind of thing wouldn't happen. Which means the only way you'd get this number was if Lily gave it to you. Now I need you to be honest with me Lillian, apart from those on your contact list, have you shared your number with anybody else?"

I hated it when Dad called me 'Lillian' and when he used his stern voice, it made me feel like I had done something wrong and that he was disappointed with me. My hands began to shake uncontrollably and tears formed in my eyes. "No... I don't think... no." I mumbled.

"You don't sound too sure to me."

"Oh, Edward, stop it! Can't you see what this is doing to her?" Bella had taken my quivering hands in one of hers and her other arm looped around my shoulders. "They have her number, so what is the first thing we need to do? We need to change that number, and then be careful with who it is shared with. We will find out who is to blame and, mark my words, I won't go easy on them, but lets try and keep our temper down at the moment, yes?"

I didn't look over at Dad's reaction after Bella had all but towered over him and taken charge. It was clear who I inherited my stubbornness from. "Sweetheart," Bella had angled her head close to mine, "run upstairs and get your stuff together. I'll take you to your slumber party."

I had barely heaved myself off the leather couch when Dad's cold voice shattered the surroundings. "No. She's not going anywhere."

"What?" I slumped back into the seat, "why not?" Tears blurred my vision once again, I was so abnormally emotional. Must have been a sign that I was getting another unwelcome visitor. One that arrives every goddamn month.

"Until I know what your mother and that man are up to I don't want you out of my sight. It's for the best, Lillian."

_Again with the Lillian. God's sake._

"The best thing, _Dad, _is for me to be distracted and for my mind to focus on something else! You knew how excited I was about this and now you're saying I can't go? Yeah, well you can't stop me!"

I was jumping off the couch for the second time, when Bella's hand took a hold of my wrist, she looked up at me with sympathetic eyes, "Lily, don't push your father like that. We are all feeling the stress from this, but someone is targeting his baby girl and that is not easy for a parent to deal with. You can go to sleepovers whenever you want, so I think-."

"Why are you taking his side?" I forced my wrist out of her grasp, "you literally just said I should go, and now you're saying I shouldn't!" I hated the expression I spotted on her face, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't rein in my anger and upset. The next words that came from my mouth slipped straight past my filter. I could have slapped Bella across the face and it would have left less of a mark than my words did. "Who are you to tell me what I can do, anyway?" I regretted them the second I said them, "I... I'm sorry, I didn't..."

"I think it's best that you take some time to be by yourself. I'll come and see you shortly." Dad's tone had lost the iciness, I worked out his subtle hint for me to leave before I caused more damage and said anything else that I didn't mean.

I felt very lonely walking up the stairs to my room, but compared to last time, this was a different type of loneliness. I knew Bella and Dad loved me, and we all needed our space for a moment, I just wish I had someone there who could have lent me their shoulder to cry on. Siobhan wasn't there, otherwise I would have gone straight to her. Instead I collapsed on my bed and allowed my confusion and emotions drain from me. For half an hour I stayed there on my bed and blared my Spotify playlist loudly in my ears. Music always helped me when I was in a sour mood - it was my saving grace back in Seattle, especially when I found a song that suited my situation perfectly. I had been recently introduced to an artist called Melanie Martinez by my friend Brooke. It wasn't the genre I usually listened to, but Brooke played one of her songs for me and I was hooked. Martinez could have written the song 'Dollhouse' especially for me; it was that similar to my problems.

_"__...Places, places, get in your places. Throw on your dress and put on your doll faces. Everyone thinks that we're perfect, please don't let them look through the curtains..." _

_"__...Hey girl, look at my mom, she's got it going on. Ha, you're blinded by her jewelry. When you turn your back she pulls out a flask..."_

My life with Mom was made up of this false facade that we set around herself. She spent all her money on fancy designer clothing and expensive jewelry to make it seem as though we had this lavish lifestyle, even though most people knew we struggled with money and that she had to work two jobs, but that didn't stop her. She called me 'Lillian' instead of 'Lily' because she thought it sounded posh and upper class. I still roll my eyes just thinking about it.

Like in the song, we appeared to have a perfect life and the perfect mother-daughter relationship, but behind the curtains couldn't have been any different. I was shunned away and made to feel like the biggest mistake of her life. I took off my pretty dresses and wiped away my 'doll make-up' to reveal the real me and the real life I had to live. At least I can say that that has changed now, and I wouldn't have to suffer with that kind of life anymore.

_0-0_

Because Dad still had my phone, I had to sign onto Facebook on my laptop to send my friends a message and explain why I couldn't attend the sleepover that evening. I seldom searched my profile page - usually I briefly skim through my newsfeed just in case anything exciting had happened - but this time I took advantage. I double checked that my profile was set to private (which it was) so no matter who came across me they couldn't find out any personal details. I also made sure that I hadn't added my phone number and was glad to see that that section had been left blank.

_So who passed it on to Eric? I can't get my head around that one._

Before I could think any more about the situation, I was distracted by my door opening and Dad slowly edging his way into my room; I yanked my earbuds free from my ears just as he began to talk, "are you okay?" He asked with concern.

I nodded my head, but didn't have the words to respond with until he had taken a seat next to me on my double bed, "I'm sorry," I mumbled whilst silently praying that I wouldn't start crying again.

Dad simply smiled and wrapped his arms around my shoulders, "you have nothing to be sorry for, Lily."

No matter how much I tried to fight them, the tears began to trickle once again, "but I was so horrible to you two. I didn't mean what I said, I promise!"

"Hush, my girl; please don't cry anymore. We have all been effected by today's events and in tense situations we say things that we don't mean. I know you didn't mean them, and Bella does too."

"Are you sure?" It was his reassurance that I needed more than anything. The reassurance that they wouldn't hold my words against me.

"Lily, we love you and that will never change. We both know what a beautiful, kind hearted girl you are and that you would never mean to hurt somebody like that." Dad pressed a delicate kiss against my temple and tightened his hold on me. I couldn't remember the last time we shared such a touching moment. I don't think I had ever shared this sort of moment with _anyone. "_"I'm sorry you couldn't be with your friends tonight," Dad continued to talk, "I know you were really looking forward to going, but I hope you can understand my reason behind saying no."

"I do, and I was looking forward to it, but I realized that if he phoned me again I would want to be here with you. And like Bella said, I can go to them whenever I want."

"Exactly, but I hope you don't mind me keeping your phone with me for the time being; if he were to get back in contact, I'd want to be the one to talk and let him know exactly how I felt about him scaring my baby girl like this."

"I'm not your baby girl anymore, Daddy." There was humor in my voice and I spotted the tell-tale signs of a smile appearing on his lips. It was a nice change.

"Despite what you may think, you will always be my baby girl. You could be thirty years old with a family of your own, but that won't change anything. Plus I've missed out on so many years, I think I'm allowed this."

I snuggled into Dad's side and rested my head against his shoulder, our position reminded me of a photo from when I was much younger when Dad was putting me to bed and reading me a story. It'll always be my favorite picture and now, about seven years later, we were recreating said photo. Minus a copy of Stuart Little, of course.

"Okay, I'll give you that."

We stayed there for a few more minutes until Dad announced something about dinner and how Bella was already hungry even though we had just stuffed our faces with pizza. That reminded me that I still had to apologize to her and make sure she hadn't been too hurt by my stupid words.

"Thank you," I whispered to Dad before we left my room, "I'm so grateful that I have you here to help me through things like this. It makes a lovely change from what I'm used to."

"I'll always be here for you, Lily; you never need to ask or feel like I won't help you through anything. I was a shit example of a father when you were younger, but now I have you with me I won't be making that same mistake again." He held me tight to his body and kissed my head one last time. "Now," he cleared his throat, "you should go and find Bella before her need for food has her changing into the Incredible Hulk."

Funnily enough she was found searching the fridge for something to eat and seeing what Siobhan may have left us. "Bella?" I spoke quietly and with some slight hesitation in my words.

Bella stepped from the fridge and closed the door, "hey there, beautiful," she smiled.

Nerves had taken over once again. This time my bottom lip became the victim as I chewed it to death trying to figure out what to say. "Um... I'm really sorry, about what I said earlier... I didn't mean it. Of course your opinion matters and you have every right to tell me what to do... I was... I was upset and..."

"Kid," I looked up from my sock-clad feet to see her smirking with a shimmer in her eyes, "breathe. Please don't beat yourself up over that, I didn't take it to heart and I knew you didn't mean it. No doubt Bossman has given you some sort of speech and all that crap - it's what he's famous for - so I'll keep this brief." She came to stand closer to me. "You are an incredible young girl and I am so extremely proud to know you and it's because we love you that we say those things. But we can forget about that now, yes? Forget this little argument happened and work out what to do with Old Man River."

"Okay," I brushed at my cheeks and my nose with the back of my hand, "thanks Bella. Thank you for everything you have done for me and Dad."

"Hey, Kid, enough of the sappy talk already," she winked, "I'm joking - you can be as sappy as you'd like, but I'm not joking about my need for food. I really will turn into the Hulk if I'm not fed soon. It's not a pretty sight. I get hangry."

With a joyous laugh, Bella and I got to work making a meal whilst Dad sat at the bar and watched us play about in the kitchen. It was one of those moments that I will remember for a long time. It was the perfect example of how we, as a family, could get through something like this and work together to make it right.

_0-0_

**I don't think Bossman and Lily have had enough scenes where it was just them being all cute and father-daughterly. And yes, before you ask you will find out how Old Man River managed to phone Lily, don't worry.**

**If you'd like to see a picture of Lily and the photo she mentioned of her and Edward, then head on over to my Facebook group, RosieRathbone FanFiction. I am 4 members away from 600, and as soon as I reach that milestone I will be announcing something kind of exciting. You will only hear about it there, so make sure you join if you don't want to miss out.**

**So it seems that every year I update on my birthday, and seeing as that day is tomorrow, I've once again met my goal. Thank you for reading, please let me know what you thought X. **


	35. Fertile Myrtle

**CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE**

**BELLA**

Do you ever get these weird cravings? Say you don't like... bread, then all of a sudden all you can think about is wolfing down a big fuck off sandwich. Over and over again. I can't be the only one, can I? My problem isn't with bread 'cause Lord only knows how much white bread I shove down my throat. No, my problem is with tea. I've never been a huge fan of tea - I root for coffee all the way - but recently I've been staying clear of my usual liquid drug.

It all started when I went over to Angela's apartment. She's been having guy trouble with a guy called Ben who we work with - he wants to go slow but it's been almost seven months and my whore of a best friend just wants to get down to business and ride him into next weekend, but I feel her pain - poor thing. Anyway, Ang put the kettle on and recommended this new tea which she had been recently enjoying, it was a mango and passion fruit green tea and at first that sounded far too healthy for my liking... but knock me down and call me Brenda, I think I might be in love. Honestly, all I can think about is when I can make myself another cup, and how many cups is too many? I have had this tea for two days. Each box contains 20 bags, and I have 7 bags left. You do the math.

_My mind is tellin' me no, but my body, my body is tellin' me yeeess... _

But seriously, go to your local supermarket and look out for this thing because it is honestly like an orgasm in a fucking cup. Sorry Bossman, but you better bring your A game if you want to beat my new love.

_Orange is The New Black starts soon. Imagine chilling on your bed with this puppy warming your hands and those beauties on the TV screen? OH HELL YEAH. But what would make this scene even better? Ruby Rose. Please say she is returning for season 4... otherwise I don't think I can handle that kind of heartbreak. _

Okay, sorry, back to my original point; I've been having these weird cravings recently man and it's been driving me mentally insane trying to work out why. But I can't get distracted by that for now because my phone is ringing and it's time to get back to the real world and do my job. Thankfully it was only Angela phoning, so I could relax and act myself.

"Hello there Miss Angela."

_"__Isabella Swan, former assistant to Mr. Bossman, are you free for lunch?"_

Mention food and I will bow down to any man and become their bitch. "Like you really need to ask twice. Alice is in a conference call at the moment, but I'll give you a bell when she's done and I'm free to leave?"

_"__I like the sound of that. I look forward to hearing from you soon." _

It turned out that Alice's call lasted for an additional forty minutes, and in that time I arranged two meetings, emailed potential new clients with all the information they needed to know, and answered Bossman's text message. He had asked if we could have a date night that evening, and I replied with two simple words: _fuck. yes. _Angus and I spend the majority of our time at Bossman Manor these days - my house barely has anything in it anymore - but it's still cute when he plans romantic dinners... which we then burn off in the bedroom afterwards. So, yes, I was definitely up for a date night.

For lunch Angela and I chose to go to our favorite sub sandwich shop located only a couple blocks down from our office. It was quick and simple food which we visited regularly so we already knew exactly what to order - a turkey breast sub with salad, mayonnaise, tomatoes, and some pickles thrown in for good measure. Sounds like an interesting combination, but it is a taste sensation in your mouth. Sometimes I like to treat myself and add extra turkey.

My stomach would not stop rumbling for the entire time I was in the elevator, and even when we left the office block Angela mentioned the strange noise, but the second we walked into the shop my hunger practically vanished - even when it came to ordering my sandwich my usual concoction didn't appeal to me and I ended up going for ham, cheese and tomatoes.

"No pickles?" Angela asked with a gasp and a mouth half-full of food.

"No... I wasn't feeling them today. Maybe next time."

Angela shrugged it off and no longer questioned me on the matter, so we got down to business to continue on talking about her off-and-on relationship with Ben. "I mean, I get it Bella; the man has had some terrible relationships recently and he's only trying to protect himself, but I'm not Lauren Mallory."

What I loved most about her little rant was that Lauren had now become a universal sign for golddiggers, someone who is only there for one thing, and someone who sleeps their way across the board.

"I wouldn't let it get to you, Ang. The fact that you have stuck around and not run off when he mentioned taking it slow would have showed Ben that you are a decent chick and you're not only there for his dick."

Angela smirked whilst taking a drink from her soda cup, "well that is partly why I've stuck around. This man is hung like a fucking horse - you need to see this specimen."

"Don't worry; I believe you. Plus, I've got my own at home..."

And that, ladies and gentlemen, was how we spent our lunch hour - eating sub sandwiches whilst talking about penis size. A standard lunch date if I'm being honest. But it wasn't until we had left the cafe and were heading back to the office that a wave of nausea took over me. And by 'wave' I mean a fucking tsunami.

"Are you okay, Bell?" Angela put her hand over my shoulder and helped to steady me against the wall so that I didn't topple over, she fished around in her purse and retrieved a packet of peppermints, "here, have one of these."

"No, I'm fine. Thanks though. C'mon, let's head back." I don't think Angela believed me, because she seemed hesitant in letting me walk away, but she knew me well enough not to say anything. It must have been written all over my face, however, because Alice took one look at me and started asking whether I was okay and if I needed to go home.

"I must have eaten something weird. I'll be fine." I knew fine well that I hadn't eaten anything dodgy, 'cause I eat the same bloody food morning, noon and night, but it kept me off her case, so I left it there. Alice escaped into her office, and I stayed at my desk with the fan blowing cool air into my face and a fresh cup of green tea in front of me. Told you I had a problem with that drink. I found myself with thirty minutes of peace before my phone rang and I was forced back to work.

"Good afternoon, Isabella Swan speaking, how can I help?"

_"__Hey Bella!" _Lily's cheerful voice filled my ears, _"I'm not interrupting you, am I?" _

"Of course not, my girl. And even if you were, I'd always make time to talk to you. How can I help?" The sound of traffic was a constant background, so I knew she was out somewhere.

_"__I was wondering whether I could catch a lift home with you? I'm shopping with my friends not far from your office. Would that be okay?" _I loved that she just assumed I was staying at Bossman Manor, and how she acted like it was my home too. I thought that was dead cute.

"Of course, sweetheart. Do your friends need a lift too?"

_"__No - they don't live near us, so their parents are coming for them." _

"Okay. I don't know when I'll be finished, but I will let you know."

_"__Thank you, Bella! You're the best!" _

_0-0_

A short while later the elevator doors pinged and opened to reveal Angela cradling a giant stack of papers in her arms. It surprised me to see her standing there - usually Rosalie did all the walking around and left Angela to man the phones. Maybe she was feeling kind that day. It was like we could read each other's thoughts, 'cause the second I thought that Angela spoke up saying; "Princess needed Alice to read over these, so I suggested taking them for her. Plus, I need to talk to you."

_Oh God, we're not going to continue discussing the size of Ben's cock, are we? _

"We literally just met for lunch, what on earth do you need to talk to me about?"

"Let me drop these off, then I'll explain everything." Angela wandered into Alice's office and within two minutes she was back again. "So, I've been thinking about how you felt sick earlier..."

I rolled my eyes to what she was saying, "I felt sick - it happens to everybody. There is no other explanation to it than that."

"Yes... but _why _did you feel sick? Let's narrow it down..." _Well, fuck; Sherlock Holmes has entered the building, guys. _"Your hunger has been up and down like a yo-yo, you didn't feel like eating your regular meal (which is very unusual), and then you practically fainted right in front of me. Plus you've been drinking that damn tea like it's going out of fashion."

"Yes, I'm probably coming down with something and these are the early stages. And what does it matter about what I drink? That has nothing to do with it."

"It matters because you never drink tea, and you certainly don't have cravings for it like that. I think you are definitely coming down with something... something that will last several months. Say about 9?"

You know that cliched saying_ 'everything just stopped'? _It legit felt like that. Angela explained her idea and it felt as though the world had stopped spinning for a beat or two. "I think you are off your rocker, love."

"Sorry Bella, but I think your eggo is preggo. What is the prognosis, Fertile Myrtle: minus or plus?"

"Oh, what, I felt sick once and you instantly think I have Baby Bossman floating around in there? The only thing I have in my stomach is Taco Bell."

"Okay..." she shrugged, "just don't coming running to me when you see that I'm right and you are wrong. But I'm guessing we should put a hold on going for drinks on Saturday - pregnant ladies can't drink, remember."

"Har-har, you funny little fucker. Get out of here, Ang - go and do some real work."

"Careful Bella; stress levels aren't good for mother or baby."

I almost chucked my stapler across the room at her, but then I remembered that I couldn't throw for shit, so I crossed off that idea. Angela deserved it though - what she had said really annoyed me. Like, I know what to do to prevent being knocked up and unless we had had unprotected sex in the last little while there was no chance I would be... _oh shit. _But no; I'm sure it's nothing.

I was so busy thinking over everything Angela had said and trying to do a few mental calculations, then I almost missed the ringing of my office phone. It was Drew from the front desk simply saying that Lily had arrived and was on her way up. Lily was such a regular here these days that no-one battered an eye lid when she walked in. Even though Edward no longer had an office up here, she still held a code for the elevator, and if she ever felt hungry she can get her meals for free. To see her so accepted, after such a short space of time, made me feel like a proud mommy.

"Surprise!" Lily called from the elevator doors with three carrier bags clutched in her hands.

"Have you been spending Daddy's money again?" She knew I was kidding. Lily is the polar opposite of her mother in the way that she hated the idea of spending money that wasn't hers. Even spending her own money didn't please her too much.

"I'll have you know Dad gave me this money and said he would be disappointed if I didn't come back with more than one bag, so I bought some new gym clothes and other little bits and pieces. He probably won't be too pleased when I give him the change though."

_See? What a damn sweetheart. I'll never understand how Lily is related to Lauren. I mean, I know she all but shot from between her legs fifteen years ago, but apart from that you'd never think they were related, especially the way they treated Lily. I'd never treat my child like that._

_Fuck, I need to stop talking about babies and find some answers. What if Angela is right and from now on I'm eating for two? To be honest I usually eat enough food for three, but lets be serious for a second, yeah? Maybe this is one of those phantom babies and I'll act like I'm pregnant when I'm not? I had my period just the other week and that's usually a warning sign if you miss it, and it was only a couple days that I forgot to take the pill... Maybe I've dodged this bullet and Angela was only trying to scare me?_

"Bella?" I shook my head to clear my thoughts and saw Alice standing by my desk, "are you sure you're feeling okay? You've been acting funny since you came back from lunch."

I hated being sent home from work; I needed the money plus I didn't want to leave Alice in the deep end if things got busy, but she was right - I wasn't feeling myself and until I find out exactly what is going on my head will be elsewhere and I'll never get any work done. "I'm sorry, Alice, I don't know what's wrong with me."

"Look, we've got a quiet afternoon and I'll probably be heading home soon anyway. You go get some rest and let me know if I need to find cover for tomorrow, okay?"

"Thank you. I'll send you a message later." It took a few minutes for me to sign off from the computer and tidy up the papers that scattered my desk before packing away my things and saying goodbye to Alice once more before entering the elevator. Lily asked if I was okay on our trip to the car, but I used the same answer I had given everybody that day _'I'm fine. It's probably nothing.'_

Fortunately it hadn't even reached four o'clock by the time we hit the road, so the congestion was nothing compared to what it is like at rush hour, and at least we didn't need to fight our way though that. An idea came to mind as we were reaching the turn off to the highway, and before I could think it through I found myself indicating towards a Target. If I wanted to get some answers I'd have to buy something first. "I need to buy a couple things. Are you okay staying in the car? I won't be long."

"Um..." Lily thought, "I'll come with you; I really want an iced latte."

_Dammit. _My plan was to sneak in and buy the test without her realizing. All I did was pray that there was a long line at the coffee place and I could have the test bought before Lily found me. But of course karma likes to play it's wicked tricks and Lily had found me just as the cashier was handing the test over. Fucking brilliant.

"Are you...?" I glanced over nervously to see Lily with her mouth open a gasp and an iced latte clutched in her hand.

"I'm buying it for a friend." I thanked the cashier once she had handed over my change and shoved the Clear Blue box deep into my jacket pocket. "C'mon Lil', let's go."

Lily didn't say a single word as we left the store or even once we were back in the car and heading home. However she chose the second we arrived at Bossman Manor to say something, "you didn't buy it for a friend, did you?"

I put the car into park and turned my head to look at her. She held an odd expression on her face and I couldn't work out whether she was happy, sad, angry or confused. I think it was a mix of all of them. "You don't say a word to your father, okay? He has enough shit going on with your mother and Old Man River, he doesn't need this as well. Promise me?"

She was hesitant in replying, "okay... I promise. But you need to promise to take that damn test as soon as possible, and then we'll find out a way of telling Dad. I'm not going around lying to him for longer than I have to." And with that she stepped from the car and slammed it shut behind her.

I sat in that car for ages and tried to work out what was going on and what the hell I would do if that test came back positive.

_0-0_

**So... that just happened. What do you think the outcome will be? Minus or plus? **

**Also, a little heads up for you guys, we are nearing the end of this story. I'm not saying it'll be finished in 2 chapters, but we are on the home stretch and so all the answers you are after will be discussed in the next chapter and so on.**

**Thanks again for reading, please let me know what you thought?**


	36. Cullen

**CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX**

**BELLA**

_"__Isabella?" _Bossman called from his office, _"can you come here a second?" _

Bossman was in a bad mood, I was in a bad mood and Lily, too, was in a bad mood. No wonder Siobhan eagerly accepted the evening off; I wouldn't stay in this house any longer either if I didn't have to. Even Angus had found refuge underneath the bed and only emerged for his dinner, the fat little shit.

I knocked briefly on the door to Edward's office before peering my head around the wood. Bossman wasn't happy to hear that I felt unwell and therefore had to postpone our date night, hence why he was now giving everyone the cold shoulder. What pissed me off the most was the fact that it was Edward's idea! He saw that I had lost the color in my cheeks and the sparkle in my eye had vanished and chose to put a rain check on our romantic meal, but now I'm the one to blame and he's acting like it was all my fault. _What gives, man? No need for that bullshit._

Edward frowned at the screen of his iMac, he scrolled up and down the screen using two fingers on the track pad that sat to the right of the keyboard. "Have you heard from Mr. Sharpe recently?" he asked all of a sudden.

"Brody? Weren't you the last one to talk to him?"

"Ignore that." Edward glanced over at me, I caught sight of the droop in his eyes from his lack of sleep. He hadn't had a full nights sleep since Eric first scared Lily with his strange phone call, and that was over a week ago. "When did _you _last speak to him?"

"It's been months, Boss... In fact, I don't think I've spoken to him since we flew off to Seattle to rescue Lily. Why? What is this all about?" _What the hell is going on inside that man's brain?_

"Something doesn't add up, and I'm trying to work it out." Watching him stress out over the computer made my anger disappear and a new feeling of guilt washed over me. He had been dealing with so much shit recently that we were desperate for a night where we could be ourselves and forget about all the drama of the real world, but then I fell "sick" and so no wonder Edward was annoyed. "I think he's hiding something from us," he mumbled mostly to himself.

"You need to take a rest, Boss." I curled one arm around his shoulders and placed a soft kiss on the side of his head.

"This problem isn't going to solve itself, Bella - someone needs to put the effort in."

"Yes, but if you keep going the way you are going you won't have any energy to put in that effort. And what do we do then? Step away from that computer and don't touch it again until tomorrow morning," I used all my strength to try and pull his seat back, but Edward weighed a fucking tonne, so I quickly gave up on that idea. "I'll order a pizza and we can chill, yeah?"

After much deliberation Edward finally accepted what I was saying and agreed to a pizza party. I even allowed him to choose the movie that we watched with said pizza, and usually I take full control over that one. _Don't say I'm not good to ya, Boss. _We signed into Netflix in order to find a movie because, honestly, who can be bothered thinking of a movie to watch and then trying to find said DVD before turning on the television and waiting for the DVD to load... _ain't nobody got time for that! _

"Oh," I spoke up as Edward scrolled down the website, "Angela recommended something on here... fuck, what was it called?"

Edward glanced at me with a smirk, "nice try, Love; we're not watching Orange is The New Black."

_Dammit. I thought I was going to get away with it then. _

We chose to watch The Wolf of Wall Street; neither of us had seen it, and it looked like the kind of film that Edward would enjoy, so I didn't want to piss on his parade and say he couldn't. We ordered some pizza and called Lily down to join us, but it seemed as though her sour mood was harder to shake than ours - half an hour after the pizza had arrived she finally came down the stairs but she didn't watch the movie or act social at all. Lily acted like your typical teenager and slumped in her seat staring at nothing but her phone.

"Thanks," she mumbled once she had had enough food and chose to leave the room.

"Lily," Edward paused the film and turned slightly in his seat, he had confusion written all over his face. She'd never once acted like this. "What's going on with you?"

I adjusted the way I sat too, so I could see what he was seeing. Lily slipped her phone into the back pocket of her jeans and crossed her arms in front of her, "nothing. Thanks for dinner."

"Yeah, I don't think so Princess. Take a seat." There was a laugh in his voice, but it held nothing but sarcasm. Despite her mood, Lily did as her father had said and retook the seat she had recently vacated. "What is going on? Has something happened? Is there anything that I can do to help?"

She glanced over at me but thankfully didn't say the real reason she was in such a mood. The fact that I could have been carrying her brother or sister. "I'm sorry, Dad - It's been a long day and I'm really tired. Everything is fine, honest."

I doubt Edward believed her - he senses bullshit like a shark senses blood - but he didn't say anything and allowed Lily to leave the room. On her way out she passed me a look which said _'I'm not lying to him anymore. Take that damn test'. _

_0-0_

"How are you feeling?" Edward stroked my arm softly as he asked the caring question, we were still watching the movie but all the pizza had been demolished so we were lying on the couch like two fat slugs. We had about thirty chins between us. Attractive, right? I know.

"I'm fine, Boss - Alice and Angela were making a mountain out of a mole hill; there was nothing wrong with me."

"Right... so you didn't nearly faint after lunch? Angela was only saying that, was she?"

"How..." _that sly little fucker... _"did you ask Angela for a run down on me?"

Edward looked at me like I had asked the most ridiculous question possible, "of course I did; I knew something was wrong and you wouldn't give me jack shit, so I had to find a more reliable source."

"The main thing is that I'm fine now, and we can put this whole fiasco to bed." _Until I take that test, that is..._

Thankfully Edward couldn't say any more on the matter because Lily decided to grace us with her presence once again. She had changed out of her jeans-and-smart-blouse combo into a pair of leggings and an oversized sweater. Her fiery hair had been pulled up into a messy pony tail and she was wearing her glasses which meant she had probably been doing her homework.

"I've been thinking over something, and I'd like to know your opinion on it..." Bossman and I shared concerned looks but none of us said anything until the movie had been paused and we could give Lily our full attention. It took a long minute for Lily to blurt out what she came to say - the hesitation was clear on her face, but then suddenly she said... "I want to change my surname."

Bossman's hand squeezed tight with my own, I turned to see the most adorable expression on that man's face. Edward is not the sorta guy to show his feelings and likes to hide behind the wall he built for himself, but when it comes down to his daughter, that shit is a different matter. He was seconds away from sobbing like a baby, and the biggest smile was plastered over his face.

_God-fucking-dammit. That face. _

_If I'm not pregnant already, I'd probably make him change that. That is if my ovaries are still in working order. _

I was so busy thinking about my exploding ovaries that I didn't notice Edward standing up from the sofa in order to pull Lily in for a tight hug. I was wiping tears from my cheeks, she had tears running down hers, and Edward was seconds from losing his shit too. We are a family of criers.

"I'd love nothing more, Sweetheart. Lillian Kelsey Cullen? I like the sound of that."

"The only problem," Lily and Edward retook their seats to continue the conversation, "is that I will need Mom's permission in order to do so... and I don't think she's going to like that too much."

_I'll pull out her weave and pop her fake fucking tits. Just gimme a pin. I'll kick her ass too, and pop her butt implants as I do so. _

_Don't look like Kim Kardashian anymore, do ya bitch? _

"Let your father and I handle your mother, Lily." Obviously Edward would do all the legal stuff, I'd just be there to fight dirty.

"No, I have a plan! After the amount of stuff that she has done to me it's quite surprising that I haven't gone to the cops yet, but tracking me down and practically stalking me is the final straw. I could threaten Mom with phoning the police, unless she agrees to me changing my name. If she allows me to do this, I'll forget the whole thing happened."

"I don't know, Lil'. It all sounds a bit... "

"No!" She broke Edward off from talking, "I know Mom better than anybody. Including that damn Eric. She lives under a false pretense - everything appears perfect with her life, and nothing could ever go wrong. The last thing she would want is for the police to turn up and for her friends to witness what life is truly like. That news would spread around their clique like wild fire, and they wouldn't want anything to do with her. _'Criminals are never justified'." _

"I could get in contact with Waylon..." I thought allowed. Why had I not thought of this before now?

"Who's Waylon?" Father and daughter both asked at the same time.

"Waylon Forge; he was best friends with my Dad since high school and they worked together since before I was born. Even now, since Dad passed away, he still sends me little emails to see how I am. If you ever need police assistance you go to Waylon. Forks is a few hours away from Seattle, but I'm certain he'll know someone who could help you."

It was clear that Lily was all for the idea, but Edward still seemed slightly unsure. "I think we could find another way around this. She could easily turn it back on us, and that is the last thing we want. But mark my words, Lil' - you will become a Cullen."

_0-0_

So the time had arrived.

The time for me to squat over the toilet and piss on a piece of plastic.

I didn't know how to feel. Was I ready for this? Am I really mother material? I mean, I can do a much better job than a certain person I know, but that doesn't mean that I'll be a good parent. Yes I see Lily like a daughter, but Kid will soon be an adult herself. She doesn't need assistance with anything. Chances are my instincts would kick in when the kid was born, but what about now? Am I ready right this second?

And what about Edward? I see everyday how amazing he is with Lily, and I have no doubt that he would be incredible with any child, but what if he is settled with just the one child? What if he doesn't want this baby and I'm left alone with just Angus to offer me comfort? I couldn't deal with that.

Then again what if I'm not pregnant and I have dodged the baby bullet? Do I tell Edward? Yes, he'd need to know... I couldn't keep this type of thing from him.

Oh God, the test is brewing. I have a few minutes before everything changes. Whether it comes out positive or negative, I'll be having a big conversation with Bossman tonight. This could change everything.

_Fuck, I'm going to be sick. I'm so nervous. I don't know what to do. _

_The test is ready. Fuck fuck, shit fuck. I'm not ready to look yet. _

_But I need to look... I need to find out the answer. _

_Okay... breathe in... breathe out... one, two, three... go._

Oh, my God. That little pink plus sign is so unholy. That ain't no etch-a-sketch; this is one doodle that can't be un-did, home skillet.

_I've watched Juno far too often. _

_0-0_

I found Edward at his desk once again. He had promised to come up to bed, but his research had clearly sucked him in too much. "I'm sorry, Love. I'll be five minutes, I promise."

I softly closed the office door behind me. My stomach was in knots and I felt as though I was going to throw up any second. I had the test hidden in the pocket of my hoodie, just incase Bossman needed evidence that I was in fact knocked up with his child.

Holy shit. I'm having a Baby Bossman.

What if he reacts badly? Do I collect Angus and leave? Do I stay here in hope that we can work something out and find a mutual agreement? I don't know what to do. I don't know where to start.

"Sweetheart, are you okay?"

_No I'm not okay! I have just pissed on a plastic stick and found out that you've knocked me up with your mutant sperm! I missed two pills yet your swimmers still managed to reach their target! This all your fault! _

"Um... I'm not sure... Er, there is a reason why I felt sick today and, um... _fuck." _

Without a seconds delay Edward rolled back his chair and had me sit down on his lap, his arms went around my stomach and I instantly started to freak out again. Normally I love it when he gets all cute and cuddly, but not when his arms are around my stomach. My _pregnant _stomach. Christ. Tears started to pool in my eyes. I know your emotions and hormones go completely off scale when you are in my position, but does it happen that quickly? I had been up and down like a damn yo-yo.

"What's up? Is it something serious?" He pressed a kiss to my temple and I had the urge to just cry, and cry, and cry some more.

"Yeah... it's pretty serious. But not in the way you're thinking...?" I was in the middle of thinking what to say next, whether to just blurt it out or keep him guessing, when I felt his hands adjust their hold on me and one hand landed right over the pocket that held the damn test. I couldn't look at his face as he slipped a hand in and slowly pulled it out.

Um... surprise?

"Bella?" I ducked my head under his chin; too scared to see his reaction whether it was good or bad. "What is this?"

_It's a candy bar. What the hell do you think it is? Funnily enough it's the same thing that Lauren would have taken sixteen years ago to find out she was expecting your daughter. But not the same one, 'cause that's just fucking gross. Ew. _

"Bella, please, look at me."

I waited a few minutes until I had found the balls to curl away from his body in order to see his expression. It maddened me that I couldn't tell how he felt, so I automatically assumed he was angry at me. "I'm sorry. I missed two days and... I didn't realize until this morning that it would have made any sort of difference... but clearly it has made a difference and, um... I don't know. I'm really sorry."

Edward stroked my cheek with the back of his hand. "Why are you sorry? This isn't completely your fault."

"But it is my fault! I should have told you that I'd missed them and then you could have wrapped it for a night and we wouldn't be in this mess! But it was around the time you had your fights so I was really stressed and scared and taking a goddamn pill was the last thing on my mind. Please, please don't be angry at me... We'll sort this out, I promise."

"Sweetheart you're over exaggerating. You're right - we will sort this out." I dropped my gaze to my lap and prayed he wouldn't chuck me out of the house just yet. "We'll sort this out together... and make sure you get the best medical care possible."

"What?" _Hold the fucking phone. What are you saying Bossman?_ "So... you're not angry?"

Edward threw his head back into the leather of his seat and laughed loudly, "of course I'm not angry! Bella... I love you. Sure we hadn't discussed children, and we hadn't planned to do anything this serious, but if life has dealt us this hand of cards then I am more than happy to accept it."

Could I please stop crying for two minutes? Bossman's confession had me bawl like a damn baby in his arms. "I really needed to hear that," I sniffed against his shoulder and then rose my chin in order to kiss his stubbled jaw, "and if this is a night of confessions, then I must say that I kinda love you too. Like, a helluva lot."

_And award for Cheesiest Moment goes too... _

"So what do we do?" I asked a short while later.

"Well I'm going to make sure you don't work as much. You need rest."

I rolled my eyes at his ridiculous idea, "I mean _now, _not in seven months time."

"So do I. I will be making sure Alice doesn't take you on any long haul trips across the country or have you spend an entire day running errands and tiring yourself out. But first there's somebody we need to share the news with."

Telling Kid wasn't what we had expected. I had admitted to Edward that she knew about me buying the test and her weird mood earlier on was all because of me, but we thought that would have blown over, but apparently not. Lily admitted to being scared - she was scared she would be left out and 'forgotten about' if we had a tiny baby to care for. I simply laughed, called her out on her bullshit and then joked that of course we wouldn't forget about her - we needed somebody to babysit on date night.

"What Bella is trying to say, Lil', is that we could never leave you out; that would be impossible. We are a family now and that doesn't change just because the family grows."

_0-0_

Of course I had to let Angela know. She screamed and demanded that she got to be the baby's Godmother. I simply shook my head and tried to focus on something else._ "Momma Swan," _Angela announced,_ "I have an important question to ask you."_

"Jesus Christ," I mumbled down the phone. I literally found out I was pregnant like, two hours ago and already Angela was calling me Momma Swan. "Okay fine, what is your important question?"

_"__I need to know what underwear Bossman wears. Boxers? Boxer briefs? Tighty whities? _

"Oh definitely tighty whities. In actual fact if you strip him down he looks like Walter White's identical twin brother. Man boobs and everything."

_"__Har-har! I'm being serious here, Bella."_

"How do you know I wasn't?" I could practically feel Angela's eye roll through the phone, "alright fine! Bossman loves a pair of boxer briefs... or commando. It depends on what he has planned for that day." But if he is going commando then I have to, too - it's the rule of the house.

_"__Oh damn. Kleins? Abercrombie_?"

"Even better...Fruit of the Loom. They are so goddamn _soft!_" Ang didn't respond to my joke; she'd clearly had had enough of my shit. "Sorry. He doesn't have a 'go to' brand, just as long as they cover his junk. But can I ask _why _you are questioning me on my boyfriend's underwear choice?"

_"__Because I heard somewhere that a man's underwear choice can determine the sex of a baby! Something to do with a lower or a higher sperm count... I dunno."_

"Really, Angela?" I love this girl dearly, but she's got a fucking screw loose somewhere, I'm tellin' ya. "Do you honestly believe that crap?"

_"__I saw it on Google."_

"Oh, so it must be true! Ang, you do realize that nothing can determine the sex of a baby, right? Unless it was made in a test tube."

_"__I don't care - I still think you are having a boy. Now, we need to think about names..."_

It was going to be a very long nine months.

_0-0_

**I know one of you didn't want her to be pregnant, but I can't please everyone; I'm only doing what I had planned from the beginning. For those of you who wanted the test to be positive, how do you feel now?**

**And Lily wants to become a Cullen!? So cute.**

**Thanks for reading, let me know what you thought .X. **


	37. Baby Bossman

**Because we are reaching the end of this story I won't be focusing on the pregnancy step-by-step. We'll literally have a new character in 2-3 chapters time. **

**CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN**

**BELLA **_\- 10 weeks pregnant. _

Edward had stepped up a level.

I came home from work last night to see that he had bought me a present. I was tired, emotional and, most importantly, hungry, and he surprised me with a present that he just knew I would enjoy. Bossman got me a fucking shower radio! Yes, you heard me; my showers will never be the same again. I have the Spotify playlist all set up, even when I'm in a down mood and all I want is to stand against the tiles and wallow in my self-pity, I have a song for that_. _Or the times when Bossman decides to join me in the shower... I have a song for that too. Several songs to be exact, 'cause we take our time.

This morning, for example, I was killing the moves to the Cha Cha Slide. Like, _killing it. _It makes washing my hair so much more enjoyable, but I can't lie - it's not easy to shave your legs whilst sliding to the left, right, and hopping once, twice and five times.

"Bella?"

"_How low can you go? Can you bring it to the top? Like you never never stop? Can you bring it to the top, one hop."_

"Bella, love, I'm coming in."

"_Right foot now, left foot now ya'll, cha cha real smooth..." _

Edward opened the shower door suddenly. He had an amused grin on his face and he stood with his arms crossed over his chest. "Do you realize the time?"

"It's time to get funky!"

"Correction, it's time to go to work. The car is waiting outside for you..."

_Fuck! Alice is going to kill me if I'm not there before she arrives. _

I leapt from the shower, accepting the towel Edward was holding out for me. "Who's driving today?" I tied my damp hair up into a messy knot on the top of my head and took my folic acid and vitamin D tablets before I forgot.

"Trent."

_Good. He's one of the nicer ones. _

"Can you tell him I'll be ten minutes? Fifteen at most."

"Of course, love," Edward kissed me sweetly on the cheek, "and I'll have Siobhan make you some breakfast for the car."

"Thank you!" I called as I ran back into the bedroom in a rush to get changed. Fortunately I am the queen of getting ready in a rush. Unfortunately, Baby Bossman now makes that slightly more challenging. My pants have started to feel very tight around my waist and most of my work clothes are tight fitting, so half way through the day I feel very uncomfortable. The biggest change is in my tits though. Holy Goddamn, it's like they went up a cup size over night! I now only have one suitable bra and even that is starting to get a little snug. I definitely need to go clothes shopping.

_You won't hear Bossman complaining however; that horny bastard can't take his hands off them. I wouldn't mind if they weren't so sensitive and fucking sore. _

I finally picked an outfit and went for something I knew would be comfortable but also appropriate for work - a smart floral skater dress which cinched in just under my tits, therefore floaty around my 'bump'. Okay, so I wouldn't call it a bump, perhaps 'bulge' is a better word, but the few people who knew I was growing something in there could see a difference; to others it probably just looked like I was bloated. I matched the dress with a black blazer and a pair of black tights.

I started to doubt my outfit, and wondered whether it was too casual for the office, but then I thought _screw that, I'm fucking pregnant dude. _I may not be nine months and bursting at the seams, but I should still be allowed to wear clothes that make me comfortable, right? Or am I simply taking advantage of the situation?

Either way I stuck with my outfit - because I didn't have time to find another one - arranged my damp hair in a much neater-styled bun and applied a small amount of make up. By the time I got down the stairs everyone else was ready and waiting for me. Lily was dressed in her school uniform and was looking at something on her phone and Bossman was in his smart suit talking to Siobhan. He was coming to the office today for a meeting with Princess and my new friend Carlisle, so he promised he'd be there for me when I tell Alice. I wasn't sure how she would react, but I wanted his support anyway.

True to her word Siobhan had made up a breakfast which was a slice of wholemeal toast with the tiniest spread of butter - too much makes me sick, and God knows I'm throwing up enough already. My craving right now is for dates; I couldn't stand the wrinkly fuckers before but now they are the only things I want to eat, so Siobhan put some in a small tub for me as well.

_God she's good. _

"How are you feeling, Sweetie?"

"Not as bad as yesterday," I answered honestly, "at least I haven't thrown up yet, but it always hits once I've eaten something. Thank you for the breakfast."

Siobhan shook her head at my gratitude, "I like to look after you three. Have a good day, and make sure you bring me a copy of the scan later!" Bossman and I had a 'dating scan' that afternoon, so we were going to finally see Baby Bossman twenty leagues under the sea and find out an estimated due date. Momma Bear looked like she was about to piss her pants with excitement.

"Of course, Momma. Love you!" I sang as I collected my bag and headed for the door. Despite running exceedingly late we still made it on time. Lily got to school in plenty of time to hit the gym before classes start and Edward and I were in Manhattan and pulling up outside the office block at fifteen minutes before Alice usually arrives which meant that I could have the computers on and coffee brewing. Alice has this thing where all technology has to be on before she arrives so she can get straight down to business without the need to sit and wait.

"What time does your meeting start?"

Edward looked up at me from his phone, "it's planned for ten o'clock, but it all depends on whether Rose is out of her conference call by then."

I saw the time on my computer screen - 8:45, "so that means you can..." my words were interrupted by a well-known sensation rising in my throat. "Oh shit," I groaned and stood quickly in order to run to the bathroom. I made it just in time for the toilet to catch my vomit, and not even a minute later the same thing happened again.

"Here love, take this." Edward passed over my water bottle; the cutie had twisted the cap off for me and he had a packet of Life Saver mints in his hand. "Are you okay?" He rubbed my back soothingly and flicked away the flyaway hairs from my face.

"I feel horrible. I'm not a fan of morning sickness." Fortunately I'm only sick once I've eaten something and my appetite is practically nonexistent. Unfortunately Edward makes sure I eat at least three-four times a day. They aren't big meals, but they are enough to cause damage.

"I know Sweetheart. We're nearly in the second trimester, so you won't need to deal with this for too much longer."

I looked up at him with my best puppy eyes and a small pout on my lips, "promise?"

Bossman just laughed and kissed my head, "you're adorable."

Alice was standing outside the bathroom when I was thoroughly convinced that my breakfast was going to stay in my stomach. "Good morning, Edward. I didn't realize you were coming in today."

"Yes. I have a meeting to attend, plus Bella and I have to go somewhere this afternoon, so I thought it only made sense if I joined her this morning."

"Oh really? And this place you have to go to today, does it have anything to do with the reason why you keep running off to the bathroom to be sick?" Alice had a smirk planted firmly on her smug little face. We were so busted.

"Um..." I tried to think of what to say, but nothing came out.

"Do you think you were really that sly, Bella? The fact that you are ghostly pale every time you leave the bathroom gives it away a bit. Exhibit A." She pointed to my face. "Not only that, but I've never seen you wear so many dresses then you have in the last few weeks, so what could you be hiding?"

_Fuck. Moral of the story kids; never try and hide anything from Alice. _

_She's got eyes and ears everywhere. Or so it seems. _

"Um..." Again, that was all I could say. Lame, I know.

"So how far along are you?"

Edward linked his fingers with mine. I was so thankful that I had him there to give me his support. "Ten weeks..." I squeaked out, to which Alice responded with an almighty squeal and flew herself over to me. Had Edward not been there holding my hand, Alice's force would have knocked me clear to the ground.

"_Oh my God!" _I think somebody's excited... "I'm so happy for you guys! This is such amazing news, and I cannot wait to meet the little one!"

"Alice," Edward put a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to calm her down, "please. And can you make sure that Bella doesn't do anything too strenuous? I don't want her gallivanting around the city running errands or carrying large amounts of work from floor to floor."

Bossman's protection made my heart burst, however I didn't want to seem weak and unfit in front of Alice. "Edward I'm perfectly capable at the moment. I have months until walking becomes a struggle."

"No, no, no - Edward is right." _Of course Alice would side with him. _"You may be capable at the moment, but these next six-seven months will go quickly. I won't have you sit down and do nothing all day, but I will be keeping an eye out and watching how much time you are on your feet."

_Oh, goodness me. Don't you just hate it when people treat you like an invalid? Yes I am currently growing a human inside me, but that doesn't mean I can't do my regular day job. _

_Ladies, am I right?! _

"And so you are aware, Alice, I will be speaking to my father today to find placement once Bella goes on maternity leave."

"Absolutely," Alice agreed once again, "I wouldn't expect anything less."

Edward started talking again, I think it was about our appointment but I couldn't say for certain because nausea hit me once again. "Edward," I mumbled, took his hand in mine and pulled him with me to the bathroom. I needed him there beside me.

No only did he stay with me, he also sat on the floor behind me so that I could cuddle into his chest in between puking - I'd definitely picked a winner in Bossman. "Do you want to go home? I'll find someone to cover you today."

I didn't even have to think about my answer. I was trying to show them that I was strong enough to work; I couldn't fall at the first hurdle. "No, I'm fine. You'll be here anyway, so if I need you I can give you a call."

"Please make sure you do, I don't want you up here suffering alone."

"I won't be alone - I've got Alice."

Edward chuckled, "you know what I mean."

"I do. And thank you, I love you."

"I love you too, Sweetheart." Just like before he brushed he flyaway hairs from my face and then kissed my cheek, "I would give you a proper kiss but, er... maybe once you've brushed your teeth."

_0-0_

Work went surprisingly well - I didn't throw up again after my last episode in the bathroom so I managed to get work done like normal. I even managed to find a spare ten minutes to give my Mom a call. Ever since I started to notice things weren't quite right with her I started to phone a few times a week instead of only on Sunday evenings. I had looked into special care for her, but my Step-Father, Phil, was dead set on Mom staying at home with him. They had a very good doctor who helped them out whenever they needed it and until Phil feels like he can't offer Mom the care she needs, she wasn't going anywhere. I accepted that. I mean, I can't say Phil and I ever got on hugely well but I know that he loves Renee and only wants what is best for her, so I have to believe him when he says that everything is going okay.

However I did notice a big difference in her when I phoned later that morning, and that wasn't in a good way. "Hello Mom, it's Bella."

"_Bunny! How wonderful it is to hear from you after all this time!"_

It had been three days, but I chose to ignore that. "I know, it's lovely to speak to you too. So how are you? What are you doing today?"

"_Oh, you know me Bunny - fit as a fiddle! I'm just pottering around the house and catching up on all my television dramas." _

"That sounds like the perfect day," I smiled down the phone, "is Phil working today?"

"_Yes, yes - he and the boys have a big game this weekend so they are putting in as much practice as possible." _I hadn't spoken to Phil recently, so I couldn't say whether Mom's statement was true or not. _"And how are you, Bunny? Working hard?"_

"Of course. Edward and I have our first scan this afternoon; we're both very excited but nervous for it."

"_Scan...? Bunny... are you expecting a baby?"_

My hands balled up into tight fists. She was one of the first people we had told and I had hoped that news like this would stay in her mind, but I guessed wrong. "Yes, Mom. I am currently ten weeks along. It was a big surprise to us both, but we couldn't be more happy."

"_Ten weeks... Oh, I remember when I was ten weeks with you." _Do you Mom? Do you really? _"Are you showing yet? And the morning sickness, is that bothering you?"_

"I have a slight bump, but nothing too obvious. Yes, the sickness is the worst part about it so far, but it's nothing too alarming."

"_Good, I'm glad. And... um... um... Edward, yes, how is he? Is he looking after you? Because I remember Charlie fussed morning, noon and night until the day you were born." _

"Yes, he has been brilliant."

"_But I bet you don't like being fussed over, eh? A stubborn thing like you." _

"That is all too true. Maybe you can make the trip out here for when the baby is born?"

"_Oh, Bunny I would love to! Do you know the sex yet? Are you having a girl or a boy?"_

"I won't find that out for a while yet, Mom - it's too early to tell."

"_Oh yes, of course - you are only ten weeks." _

"Well I better get back to work now, but it was great speaking to you."

"_You are a busy girl, Bunny. I will speak to you soon, but please send me a copy of the scan when you get one."_

"I'll make sure to do that. I love you."

"_I love you too, Bunny."_

_0-0_

We arrived at the maternity hospital with plenty time to spare before our appointment. I mentioned to Edward that we could get a coffee before hand and he agreed... just as long as I had decaf. _Shit, that was going to take a while to get used to. _According to the books I should have no more than 200 milligrams of caffeine per day, and that is the equivalent to about 1-2 cups off coffee. There is nothing wrong with decaf - I still get the taste that I am after; I just don't get that needed buzz.

"I spoke to Renee today." I said, once we were seated and waiting on our turn.

Edward looked up from his phone, "really? And how did that go?"

"Um... okay, I guess. She had forgotten about Baby Bossman but I suppose I was only getting my hopes up that she'd remember. I offered for her to come and stay when the baby is born... if that is alright?"

"Of course. She can even come earlier than that if it would put your mind at ease."

What I noticed when throughout that short conversation was that I had just assumed Mom and I would be staying at Bossman Manor. Edward and I had never made official plans about our living arrangements but it was like my actual house didn't exist anymore. I really needed to sort that out, because I can't see myself going back there anytime soon.

With twenty minutes still to go before our turn, I decided to use that short time wisely and found comfort by resting my head upon Bossman's shoulder to get a little shut eye. I knew babies drain the energy from you, but I had expected it to be a lot later on the pregnancy, not the first trimester. To be honest though I am a lazy shit anyway, so me being tired isn't a huge shock to the system. Bossman wrapped his arm around me and his hand softly stroked my bulging stomach, I was never a fan of someone touching my stomach before and I always felt very insecure when they did so, but everything's changed now and I knew that he did that so he could feel closer and offer comfort to the baby. _Our baby._

"Oh, shit..." My eyes had instantly welled up with tears and they began to fall before I could do anything to stop them.

"Bell? What's wrong?"

"Just ignore me," I continued to sob.

Edward cradled my face in his hands, he sported the cutest concerned expression. "But you are crying. Why? What's happened?"

"It's just... it's just... Bossman we're having a baby! Like, an actual living and breathing human being! One that is part of me and part of you!"

Despite the fact that I was crying my eyes out and having some random fucking emotional breakdown, Edward chose that moment to laugh. Laugh! _My crying is not something you should be laughing at, thank you very much! _How dare he laugh at me when I'm in this state!

"It's not funny." I cried even harder, gloopy snot began to dribble from my nose. What a beautiful sight.

"Sweetheart I'm not laughing at you; I'm laughing with you."

_Does it look like I'm laughing to you, Bossman?! _

Our names were called before I could lose my shit any more than I already had done. The sonographer's name was Lucy Hart - we'd met her before when we had are first appointment and she seemed like a lovely lady who knew exactly what she was doing, which was very reassuring. She greeted us with a smile and welcomed us into her room, I think she noticed the mascara that ran under my eyes but chose not to say anything. She would have been all too familiar with emotional, hormonal outbursts.

"How are we today?" Lucy made herself comfortable at the opposite side of the desk and opened up a paper file with a pen in hand at the ready.

Edward answered for us both, "we're both very well. Things are definitely starting to hit and become real now."

Lucy nodded her head as she noted something down. "And Bella, how are you feeling?"

"Sickness is a bitch, and I've been feeling very tired, but you warned me on that anyway."

"Have you noticed any changes? Are you being sick more than you were, or has it died down at all?"

"Er, no; I'd say it has stayed the same. It does depend on what I eat that day, but usually it's the same."

"Good, that's good. Now, if you want to get yourself prepared Bella, and then we can get started." She handed me over a hospital gown and then left so I could get changed. I followed her orders and dressed myself in the God-awful gown. Nobody can pull that outfit off - not even Ruby Rose, and that beautiful specimen can pull off a beige jumpsuit!

"Would you still be attracted to me if I wore this and nothing else for the rest of my life?" There is no way Bossman could resist me in this, I mean, _come on. _

"Bella, you could wear a burlap sack and not shave your legs for months and I'd still be attracted to you. Especially if you are pregnant with my child."

_Oh that man, what his words do to me._

"You might not have long to wait for that last one - once this belly begins to grow there is no way I'm heaving my leg up to shave it, especially not every day."

Edward laughed, because he thought I was joking. I definitely was not.

Lucy reappeared a couple of minutes later, I made myself comfortable on the bed and she began to explain the procedure. Due to Baby Bossman being too small and too low in my abdomen she had to do a transvaginal scan, which is exactly what it sounds like... using a probe that is wrapped in a condom she inserted it through my pee shoot in order to get a better look at the baby.

"Relax, Bella," she soothed.

_Relax? Relax?! I have a probe currently stuck up my vagina and you are asking me to relax?! _

_There is only one thing I want up there which is wrapped in condom, and that probe is not it. _

But despite the fact that it was very uncomfortable and I had never felt more vulnerable, all of that vanished once the monitor came to life with a picture of my baby. Two arms, two legs and a tiny little head. I tried to compose myself and keep the tears at bay, but one look at the tears in Bossman's eyes had me weeping like a baby. He kissed the back of my hand, but he couldn't look away from the screen. It was when the probe picked up a heartbeat that I _really _lost my shit.

_My baby has a heartbeat. _I had never felt love like it before, and that scared the life out of me; how something so small could make such an impact in a heartbeat - pun intended.

Edward and I were to engrossed watching the baby jerk it's limbs and bob about like a jelly fish that we almost missed what Lucy was saying. "Everything is looking good," she was pleased to announce, "your baby is roughly 3.6 centimeters, which is the average size at 10 weeks. At this stage their nails are starting to form and they have hair on their skin which is somewhat like peach fuzz." I simply could not get my head around what she was saying. Baby Bossman isn't even the size of my little finger, yet they had a fully formed heart, finger nails and hair on their skin. _Life, man - it just blows my mind. _

Once Lucy was pleased with the scan and we had snapped some pictures, the monitor went blank and I was finally able to say goodbye to the probe stuck between my legs. I hated the fact that the monitor had to be switched off though, I could have sat watching my baby jiggle for days on end. Lucy allowed me to get comfortable again and change back into my clothes whilst she typed away at her computer.

"That was incredible." I whispered into Edward's chest as he wrapped his arms around me.

"It makes me think of what I've missed with Lily. I never got to experience this hype and excitement with her, and that's one of things I'll never forgive Lauren for." There was a break in his voice, like he wanted to let his emotions take control, but he was trying his damn hardest not to let that happen.

"We've got her now - that's the main thing. Don't let these thoughts ruin this moment, and remember you are going to experience every step with this baby and that's not going to change."

"I love you." He whispered before he dropped a sweet kiss on my lips.

Lucy broke me off before I had the chance to respond, "if you two want to take a seat and we'll go over a couple things?" Edward and I sat on the same chairs we were previously sitting on, our hands linked together between us. "Am I right in saying, Bella, that the first day of your last period was January 20th?"

I thought back to what I recently mentioned, "yes, that's correct."

"Brilliant!" Lucy beamed and clicked at something on her computer, "then in that case we are looking at Wednesday October 26th as your due date."

Everything seemed to stop suddenly, and then one by one tears began to drop and slide down my cheeks. Edward was quick to notice the tears and didn't hesitate in sliding his chair over an inch to console me, "that's Charlie's birthday," I whispered.

Lucy must have asked if everything was okay because the next thing I heard was Edward explaining the situation. "Charlie is Bella's father. He passed away a few years ago and she finds it very hard to cope with."

I wiped away at my cheeks and sat up properly in the chair, Lucy smiled sympathetically at me. "I'm so sorry to hear that, all I can hope is that this baby behaves themselves and becomes the perfect way to remember him."

"I just pray Baby Bossman doesn't inherit his personality, otherwise we'll all be screwed!" I joked, to add light to the situation.

"Bella," Edward scoffed, "I don't think we need to worry about that. If what I heard is true then you, my love, have already filled those shoes."

_I suppose he's right; I can be a sarcastic asshole sometimes. _

0-0

We had the perfect end to the perfect day.

As Edward and Lily spent a couple hours in the gym working out, I enjoyed a luxurious bubble bath with Netflix playing on my laptop. I don't think I need to tell you what I watched, do I? I am just that predictable. But after my bath and their session in the gym we all sat down to dinner which Siobhan had graciously made for us - roast chicken, with mashed potatoes and vegetables. It really was sex on a plate, but unfortunately I could only eat a small amount.

Once dinner was over and done with, Edward, Kid and I snuggled up to watch a movie and coo over the scan photos from earlier that day, it was nice to see Lily really get involved because even though I knew she was excited about a brother or sister, she still seemed a bit wary of the whole situation.

We chose to watch San Andreas - a film about an earth shattering earthquake and the drama that unfolds. And as much as I enjoyed the film and I managed to successfully stay awake through the whole thing, it had a few too many cheesy moments for my liking. Like isn't it a coincidence that Dwayne Johnson can fly or drive any vehicle he gets his hands on? _Goddamn, what can that man not do? _

You know those evenings where everything seemed right? You didn't have a weight on your shoulders, you spent it with the people you love the most and you just had a damn good time? Yeah, it was one of those evenings.

But there is always someone that pisses on your parade, right?

0-0

**I didn't just leave it there, did I...? I wonder what that might mean?**

**But thank you very much for reading, I would love to know what you thought and what your favourite scene was? **


	38. Mothers

**Like I said in the last chapter, this pregnancy won't be step-by-step, hence the time jump between then and now.**

**CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT**

**BELLA**** \- ** _29 weeks pregnant (7 months)_

Here's an update.

So remember how Bossman bought me that shower radio, and every morning I have been syncing songs from Spotify for my daily enjoyment? Yeah, well it only continued to get better and better especially as I got pregnant and pregnant-er. Baby Bossman has been playing some God-awful tricks on my emotions, and these disco showers are a saving grace. Some mornings I just want to stand there and have a little cry, but if I shove on a bit of Ricky Martin it gives me a whole new look on whatever made me feel down. Maybe that was why Bossman bought it for me in the first place - he didn't want me to be a moody bitch and so he gave me something to help my moods simmer down.

Recently my go-to band has been the Spice Girls - I bet that didn't surprise anyone - and it was because of my jamming session to Wannabe, that I had the following conversation with Bossman. See, it had been a struggle thinking of a name for Baby Bossman, so I came up with a few ideas if Baby turned out to be a girl. No, we don't want to find out the gender. Bossman and I are all about surprises.

Edward and I were relaxing back on the bed and he had plumped up my pillows to help support my aching back. Movement had become very hard, and I felt like the size of a fucking elephant even though I knew I was still going to get a lot bigger. "I've been thinking of some names..." I pulled down the band of my maternity pants and rolled my t-shirt up and underneath my tits in order to let my bump 'breathe'.

"Oh yeah?" Edward put his book down to pay attention to what I was saying.

"Mhmm. First I was thinking Emma is a cute name, but then I thought of how Edward, Lillian and Isabella are all beautifully old names and so the name Victoria came to mind and how that would fit in quite well. Either that, or we could _spice _it up a little and go with Geri? Or Mel/Melanie; it's up to you."

A loud, bellowing laugh appeared from Bossman. "Bella, I love you, but we're not naming our child after a member of the Spice Girls. We may as well just call her Ruby Rose if that's the case!"

I slowly turned my head to look at him, "that could work..."

"No."

_"__Dammit."_

"And anyway," Edward continued, "we would want a solid name for when they enter the ring - our name means everything when it comes to boxing."

"Woah, woah, woah, stop the fucking bus. You've already got one of our kids into that deadly sport - I'm putting my foot down with this one. I am more than happy if they join the Glee club; as long as they won't be getting punched in the face."

According to research our baby is now approximately the size of a butternut squash, and by looking at the size of my stomach I wouldn't deny it. Now, call me stupid, but I never realized how much we go through when pregnant. I have severe heartburn, I haven't done a shit in days, and if I thought I was gassy before... God, it's ten times worse now. Who would have thought making a baby would cause you to fart left, right and center? I never knew that.

I can't sit down for long periods of time, nor can I stand up for long periods of time. At first Edward was a bit unsure of what that meant when it came down to sleeping, but I can't remember the last time I had a full nights sleep, so there is no need to worry there. If I want to roll over onto my side I need to literally hold my bump as I turn otherwise it would fall and bring me down with it.

But the number one thing that is really grinding my gears? We haven't been able to have sex all week; Bossman and I are both feeling just as frustrated. We were told that, as long as we felt up to it, it's perfectly safe to have sex until the baby is born, however because I feel so lethargic and heavy as soon as I am in position I can't move from there. It's like I have turned into a sack of potatoes. Then of course I immediately start crying, and no man wants to have sex with a sobbing, farting, pregnant lady who hasn't shaved in over a week.

_How the hell is Bossman still with me? _

_Big Foot Bella, that's what they should call me. _

However, despite all the negative sides, there are plenty of positives. Firstly my tits have gone up _two cups sizes - _for someone who has always been quite flat-chested, that's a dream come true. Secondly, I have three weeks left until I go on maternity leave and I don't need to return until I feel fit and I am comfortable leaving my baby for a day. I guess that is the perks to the grandfather of your baby being your boss's boss. Even if Alice hadn't accepted the idea, if Carlisle says that I am free to return whenever I am ready, then there isn't much she can say to that. Thankfully Alice has been amazing and was more than understanding.

But despite how much I might moan and complain about certain things, I would happily go through all of this again if we decided to pop another one out. Especially when I feel little kicks and movements; that brings me the greatest pleasure. Baby Bossman has been pretty active recently, and Edward is certain that he/she's practicing their jabs and uppercuts, but I put my foot down on that idea. Watching Lily in the ring scares the living shit out of me, I think I would just about die if I had to watch both of them. I've seen the consequences Edward faces after a match, and I've sat beside Lily in the hospital after hers.

_Nuh-uh, not happening, my friend. _

0-0

It was two-thirty in the morning, and I was sitting up in bed playing a game with Baby Bossman. It was a game where Baby responded to my touch. If I rubbed the top right of my bump, they would push up into it. It seemed as though Baby was much more active during the night, hence why I cannot sleep, but I love these little playing sessions. Sometimes if Baby pushes hard enough it looks almost like that birth scene from 'Aliens' where the thing pushes out of Sigourney Weaver's stomach.

"Ow!" The sudden jolt of pain made me jump and accidentally elbow Edward in the back, "calm down in there, little one," I winced as the pain in my side continued.

"What's wrong?" Bossman turned over rubbing his sleepy eyes.

"I'm sorry," I placed one hand on his bare shoulder, "I didn't mean to wake you. I currently have a teeny-tiny foot stuck under my ribs. At least, I assume it's a foot." I had been warned about this, and I was told that the feeling is exceedingly uncomfortable and painful. Well they weren't wrong, 'cause no matter what position I sat in nothing seemed to work. I even rubbed away at my side in hope that it might have made Baby Bossman remove their foot and continue their party elsewhere, but no.

"Baby please," I begged, "we were having so much fun before you kicked me and I accidentally woke Daddy up. Let's return to that, yeah?"

"Have you slept at all?"

From the look on Edward's face I could see he was trying to fight off sleep, but the cute little bastard stayed awake to make sure I was alright. "An hour - maybe two - and then this little one decided to have a late night Womb Rave. But don't worry about me - you have a busy day tomorrow and should get some rest."

He stole a quick glance at the clock beside him and groaned with one hand covering his eyes. "Bella it's two-thirty in the morning. Your alarm will be going off at 6 o'clock for work and you've only had an hours sleep? No - I'm going to phone Alice and Rose first thing in the morning and say you won't be coming in; you need to rest up."

"Edward," I groaned, "I'll be fine; I've survived a full day of work with no sleep before. I think I can handle this."

"That may be so, but you were not seven months pregnant at the time. I'd never forgive myself if I allowed you to leave this house and something happened."

Baby Bossman finally removed their foot from under my ribcage and so with the help from Edward I turned onto my side and curled myself around my pregnancy pillow. Honestly, that thing is a God send. It may look like an oddly-shaped penis, but the relief it gives when it takes the full weight off of my bump and I can cuddle my legs around it... I'll never want to part with it. The good thing is I can use it even after I have given birth - it can help support me and the baby when I am nursing and we could be stuck in one position for long periods of time.

I managed to find sleep pretty quickly, but one hour and seven minutes later I was once again being kicked awake. "Excuse me," I prodded my bump with a finger, "can you keep it down in there? Some of us are trying to sleep."

In response to my voice and prodding I received a series of violent kicks and nudges, "oh, so we're playing that game now, are we?" We continued the touch game from earlier until Baby pushed down on my bladder and I just about pissed my pants. Literally.

Angus followed me to the bathroom - I've found that he's been doing that lately. Like when Edward was recovering after his fights Angus stuck around him like a fly on a crap because he sensed that something wasn't quite right, and for the last few weeks he has been staying right by my side even when I'm going to the bathroom he'll sit at the door until I exit. "Now," I stood from the toilet, flushed, and went to wash my hands, "are you going to let me relax now, or should I just cross sleep off my list for the night?" It seemed as though Baby Bossman had settled down and so I chose that as my hint to go back to bed, but the second my butt sank into the comfortable mattress the sudden urge to eat something washed over me. I hadn't felt the slightest bit hungry until that very moment but when Baby is hungry, I have to eat. With an exhausted sigh I stood back up and plodded my way downstairs to the kitchen. I could have asked Edward to get me something, but I had already woken the poor soul up by punching him in the back, so I didn't want to bother him again.

_God, I really need some sleep. _

I had had five hours sleep last night, spent nine hours in the office yesterday and so far tonight I've only sleep for a few hours again. _Maybe Edward is right, maybe I should stay home today? _I am fortunate enough that my job allows me to work from anywhere with access to the internet, and so even though it helps to to be in the office it wouldn't matter too much if I stayed here. It would also mean that I wouldn't need to suffer a forty minute journey to Manhattan and back again. _Yeah, I think I need a day to rest. _

When I finally arrived in the kitchen I went on a search for what to eat and how to satisfy my needs. I raided the fridge, the pantry and even the Goddamn fruit bowl, but nothing seemed appealing to me. "For goodness sake," I whispered harshly to myself, "please just make up your mind!"

_I would slap a bitch for a Cinnabon right about now... Why is the nearest one so far away, and why are they not open 24 hours?_

_Ooh, would Yogurtland be open? No, fuck, it's four in the morning. But I really want some York peppermint pattie, with Hershey's chocolate milk topped with chocolate sprinkles and crushed Oreos. _

_Hold up. I've just thought of something._

With a smile on my face and a bounce in my step, I headed for the freezer and pulled out a drawer to reveal my secret stash of Ben and Jerry's ice cream. Edward tries to eat healthy and keep his body in good shape, but if he came across a tub of Ben and Jerry's he would devour it in five minutes flat - hence why I have a secret stash. I filled a bowl with a few heavy spoonfuls, threw the tub back into the freezer and plodded up the stairs.

0-0

"Bella_..._Sweetheart, are you awake?" After a minute or so I finally came round to the sound of Edward's beautiful voice, "good morning," he smiled. Oh what a glorious sight; a bare-chested Bossman with a decent stubble growing across his jaw, his eyes looked as though they were still adjusting to the light that poured in through the window and his hair... well, one look at that fiery mop and people would think we had been having plenty of sexy-date-nights, but ya'll know that ain't the case. It has been six days, but who's counting, right?

As I lay there and took in the finer details of this beautiful man, said beautiful man started to laugh. "What?" I asked and looked around the room, "what is so funny?"

"Did you get hungry last night, Bella?"

I just so happened to catch my pajama t-shirt in the corner of my eye, and the dribbles of chocolate ice cream that now stained the front. "Oh," I smiled sheepishly, "yeah, I really wanted frozen yogurt, but ice cream had to do instead."

"Sweetheart, I hadn't even noticed your shirt. It was your face that amused me."

_Oh, thanks Bossman. Asshole._

_But wait... _"my face?"

Edward turned over in the bed to retrieve his iPhone from the side table. He turned on the front-facing camera before passing it over to me. The first thing I noticed were the seven chins that made it look as though my head just molded into my chest without a neck between them - I'm such an attractive woman - but then I saw the real reason why Edward laughed at me, "oh fuck..." Not only had I dropped more ice cream down my shirt than I had actually consumed, but I had somehow managed to get half the fucking bowl around my mouth. It looked like when a baby eats chocolate pudding.

_Or, no - you know what this looks like? Picture a '90's boyband and then the awful facial hair they all seemed to have. Like AJ from the Backstreet Boys. Yeah, that is what I had recreated on my face. See? I'm not a messy eater, I'm an artist. _

0-0

Skip forward a few hours. The time was eleven a.m. and I had set up my work station in Edward's office to allow me the chance to answer emails and phone calls. Alice was more than understanding when I told her I wouldn't be able to make it in, she mentioned that my health and the health of the baby was too important to put at risk. I offered to sort out the emails that would come flying through the system, but I wasn't allowed to spend the whole day at this desk and I had to take frequent breaks and naps. Alice can be very demanding.

Lily had gone off to school quite happily and for once Edward drove her there himself instead of getting Josh or Trent to do it. I had a feeling he wanted to talk to her about something, but it was sweet either way for the two of them to spend that little bit of time together. He had offered to collect her again when the school day finishes and then no doubt the two would disappear off to the gym for an hour.

Siobhan was here somewhere; she had mentioned something about it being laundry day so she'd be walking back and forth from bedrooms to the dryer room etc., which meant that for the majority of the day I would be alone and free to get my work done without distractions. I played Einaudi on Spotify and the soft piano playing helped me focus on the task ahead. Chances are, if I listen to a song with lyrics in it then I'll focus more on the lyrics and completely lose my train of thought.

Three o'clock soon came, Edward put an end to his work in order to collect Lily from school, Siobhan had gone back to her house until later on in the day when she would return to make us dinner, and I had sent off my final email. I had found myself falling asleep at the desk so I chose to end my day there. I went through to the kitchen, grabbed myself an apple and a bottle of water before making myself comfy in the living room, to watch something on television, eat my small snack and catch up on much needed sleep.

I had barely taken a bite from the apple when the front doorbell rang. _Strange, _I thought as I heaved myself off of the couch. Anyone that knows the code for the gates at the bottom of the road would have their own set of keys, and if someone visits that doesn't know the code they would need to ring up and we'd let them in.

The first place I checked was the screen which showed the camera at the gates and, just as I thought, they were closed and no-one was waiting to get in. _Maybe Siobhan has left her keys at the house and has returned for something... unlikely, but possible. _

Without a second thought I unlocked the door. At first I thought I was seeing things, but after a quick pinch to my arm I realized that no, this was not some horrible nightmare. "How _the fuck _did you get here?" I spat at the last two people I had ever imagined standing behind that door. Yep, you guessed it - Lauren and Old Man River.

Lauren had a face full of disgust, "eurgh; such language," she flicked some blonde hair away.

"Listen, bitch," I took one step closer to them, "are you going to answer my question or not? How the fuck did you get up here?" It seemed as though neither of them were going to say anything. _So childish. _"Fine," I smiled a false smile and pulled my iPhone from my pants pocket to dial Edward's number.

_"__Hey babe," _from the way his voice sounded slightly far away I instantly knew he was using the hands-free in the car, which also meant they were on their way home. Now, I wouldn't say I was scared - cause this bitch and her elderly husband don't scare me, however I was scared of the fact that I was completely home alone, seven months pregnant, and unsure of what Lauren was actually capable of. I was scared for my baby. If she can slap her own daughter then she could do anything to me. Edward's cheery voice made the tears well up in my eyes, but I had to sound strong.

"Are you on your way home?" Yeah, who was I fooling? No matter how strong I tried to sound, that idea flew out the window the second I began to talk.

Bossman knew me far too well. _"Bella, what's the matter? Is the baby okay? Are you okay?" _

I saw the smirk on Lauren's face - she'd found my weakness. "Um... yes, we're okay, but there is someone here to see you. Um... are you almost home?"

_"__Sweetheart I can tell by your voice that something has scared you but I promise you that everything will be okay. Lily and I are less than five minutes away, so you just have to stay strong until we get there. I love you, Bella; I am going as quickly as I can."_

"We love you too."

Lauren had already started laughing before I had hung up the call and pocketed my phone once again. "Oh Bella, I really thought you might have had a bit more sense than that. Just make sure you don't get too attached - Edward doesn't have the best track record when it comes to being a father. I should know."

I saw red.

_This tramp really does have a death wish._

Had I not been carrying Baby Bossman at the time, I would have pounced.

"Don't you fucking dare. You can talk shit about me all you want, but I won't allow you to talk shit about the man I love and the father of my child." My arms went around my bump protectively.

_But you still haven't told me how you got through those gates... c'mon bitch, fess up. _

"So who gave you the code? Somebody must have, otherwise you wouldn't be standing on my doorstep right now."

"Your doorstep? I thought this was Edward's house? I believe you live in a rundown house in the next town along, am I right?" _How the hell...? _"Or maybe that's why you got yourself pregnant?" Lauren kept spitting her venom all whilst taking small steps towards me. "Land yourself with that mistake just so you can live in this house?"

Something I have learnt throughout the past few months - you never want to piss off a hormonal, pregnant woman; especially when your refer to their children as '_that mistake'. _"Now you listen here, you piece of shit; my child is not 'a mistake' and I didn't follow in your footsteps and get myself knocked up simply for Edward's money or the house he lives in. And is it really any of your business either way? No. So how about you and Old Man River fuck off back to the cave you crawled out from?"

The sound of tires tearing up the cobble stoned driveway came into ear shot, and from the sound of things Edward was driving at some speed. Lauren turned her head in direction of the car, "perfect timing," she smirked.

Bossman slammed the car door and came storming up to the house. If looks could kill... "If you have laid one finger on her I will personally see that you never see the light of day again."

Eric held out a wrinkly hand like he was trying to stop Edward in his path, but my Bossman simply brushed past him and came straight over to me. "Are you alright?" He hugged me tight, kissed my head and rubbed my bump with one hand, "did they hurt you?"

"Not physically," I spoke truthfully. I could have easily said that everything was fine, nothing hurtful was mentioned and all had been sorted, but why should I? "but trust me, Boss, if she talks down about Baby Bossman one more time I will not be held responsible for my actions." I could see the fire in his emerald eyes and the vein on his forehead that was ready to pop. "Don't," I held his cheek in my palm, "don't give them the satisfaction."

"What the hell are you doing here?" I think we all turned when Lily announced her arrival. She walked past her mother and the walking corpse with her school bag over one shoulder, a gym bag on the other and her lacrosse stick held in one hand.

_Can I borrow that for a second? _

_I could make Lauren into a human kebab. In one end and out the other. _

_That is if a stick could fit up her tight ass. _

"Lillian you know how I feel about harsh language."

Lily looked at her mother like you or I would look at dog crap that you'd just walked in. "I don't give a shit. You don't have any control over my life anymore. I might have been a scared, innocent little girl that you could push around, but that has all changed now."

"Lillian I am your mother and I have more control than you may think?"

"Really? Like what? Give me one example. I think all these injections and body enhancements have done something to your head, because you are sounding slightly delusional to me, love."

_Oooh, apply a cold compress to that_ _BURN! _

I had the sudden urge to whoop and cheer, but then I remembered this was a serious conversation and I needed to keep a straight face. But later, when they left, I would whoop and cheer.

"Now if you have finished insulting my family then please tell me exactly why you are here, and what it would take for you to fuck off and leave me alone."

I knew Edward wasn't too fond of Lily using that sort of language, but I had a feeling he would let it slip by that one time. Emotions were high, y'know?

"Edward," Lauren sighed in our direction - Bossman still stood protectively in front of me. "Do you really allow our daughter to walk around speaking such vulgar language?"

"_My _daughter is a well-mannered, polite girl who I am exceptionally proud of whether or not she uses '_vulgar language' _once in a blue moon."

"Okay, okay - _enough!" _Not gonna lie, Lily is kind of scary when she reaches boiling point. "Dad, please don't drop to her level; they're not worth it. And _Mother, _why don't you tell me exactly why you are here? And give us a proper answer this time, because I am sick and tired of trying to decode your stupid riddles.

_Oh shit, Lily means business. And it looks like we are finally going to get some answers._

_0-0_

**This chapter was getting far too long, so you get an extra chapter in this story by me cutting this into 2. **

**Thank you very much for reading, did you have a favourite moment or line? **


	39. Mothers part 2

This is continuing on from where the last chapter ended. For those of you who don't remember what happened, Lauren and Eric made an unannounced arrival.

There is a time jump in this chapter, but it's the only way I can wrap up this story.

**I strongly suggest that you listen to the album Islands by Ludovico Einaudi as you read this chapter. It is a beautiful album, and fits the mood perfectly. **

**CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE**

**BELLA** \- _29 weeks pregnant (7 months)_

A tense silence filled the living room. Nobody bothered to start the conversation, and had it not been so tense I probably would have squeezed out a fart just to break the ice, but I was at that stage with my pregnancy that if I tried to force out a fart something else might pop out instead. I could have ended up shitting my pants in front of Lauren and Old Man River. I bet it wouldn't be anything new for Eric however - you know the problems elderly people have with their bladders.

Thankfully Lily broke the ice before I had to worry too much about shitting my pants. She had a serious tone in her voice, aimed solely at her mother and Eric. "If you don't tell me why you are here and how you got here, I'll call the cops, and I'm sure they'd be interested in hearing everything else you have done recently..."

_Damn, my girl is using some serious blackmail._

I watched as Edward put a hand over Lily's shoulder, but neither he nor I said a word. This was Lily's battle, one that had been brewing for a number of years.

"I wonder what everyone back in Seattle would think when they hear about this... Or Eric, how would your customers feel when they hear that their lawyer has been arrested for fraud and stalking a teenage girl... I don't think you would be too popular after that."

"I did no such thing!" That was the first time we had received an outburst like that from Old Man River; he usually sat about and allowed Lauren to do all the talking. I almost felt like giving him a round of applause for finally growing a pair of balls. Almost.

"Really? So you didn't track me down and find personal information about me?"

Eric stood up in a flash. "Listen hear you lying little bit-."

But Edward stood up just as quickly and with a finger pointing straight at Eric, he put the old man in his place. "You better watch your fucking tone and pray I don't catch you talking to my daughter like that again, got it? Now we all know what has been going on, and so I think we all know that Lily was not lying. Y'know, it is you that is refusing to talk - we could have had this mess sorted out ages ago had you just opened your mouth. So are you finally going to talk today? Otherwise I won't hesitate in phoning the police. Lily, once again, is right - I'm sure you'd be the talk of the town back home; and for all the wrong reasons."

_I still feel like we should have phoned the cops to begin with. But hey, you can't change the past, right?_

_I have been told to take a back seat, so I am going to obey Bossman's rules. However my mind shall still wonder off and think it's own thoughts. _

"We could have avoided this whole thing had you not gone to your silly boxing camp, Lillian. You could have come home to us and there wouldn't have been a problem."

_Bitch, really? _

_You are lucky I have a human being growing inside me right now, otherwise I'd be throwing you to the fucking ground. Bossman would have been proud of my Rocky moves. _

"And where would that have left me Mom, huh? In a place I don't want to be, with people who treat me like I'm nothing? This all started when you told me that Dad didn't love me; that he didn't want anything to do with me. Maybe, had you been honest from the damn start, this could have all been avoided."

"Lillian, I think you should -."

_"__I'm not finished!" _Kid seethed, "I lived under your roof for fourteen years, and in that time I was looked down upon, made to feel useless and unloved, and nobody supported me in anything. I was fed lies about my own father, which only made me feel even worse. And then two years ago I came here... and realized how much I had missed out on; how different things could be with the right company. I don't ask you for much, in fact I don't think I've ever asked you for anything... but all I ask is that you leave me alone; that you give me this opportunity to be happy. And if you care about me at all then you would let me change my surname and allow me to live here with Dad and Bella without a grudge."

_Holy shit. _I doubt there was a dry eye in the room. Lily knew how to go down hard on your emotions. But from the look on Lauren's face, her tactic seemed to have worked. Lauren won't ever be nominated for mother of the year, but that doesn't mean that she has no feelings towards Lily. I think that outburst made her mistakes clear, and the realization that if things don't change Lily would leave her life forever. Lily isn't even my child, but that idea makes me want to be sick. I could only hope that Lauren felt the same way.

Bossman brought his daughter in for a needed hug. From the sad smile that appeared on her face I knew Edward must have whispered something to her, but I was too far away to hear what he had said.

"Brody Sharpe." Lauren muttered after a few short minutes. Bossman cursed loudly beside me - he had had his suspicious about Mr. Sharpe. "It didn't take much to work out he was snooping around... so I thought I could use it to my advantage."

_Bitch._

"How long? How long has that asshole being messing around behind my back?"

Lauren scratched away at her head as she thought, "about a year? I don't remember the exact date. I guess he would do anything for a bit of money - we just had to offer him an extra grand and he was putty in our hands. He managed to find out anything that I wanted, including the number for your gates."

_Remind me to get that code changed... _

"But why, Mom? Why did you feel the need to have him help you anyway? I thought you understood that I wanted to be left alone for a while, and then you go and do this?"

"It's hard to explain, Lillian. Maybe one day, when you have children of your own, you'll understand."

_Wait... what? Is she serious? _

"Okay, okay...I told myself I wouldn't say anything, but I can't keep quiet about this." I thought about my words before I said them. I didn't want to make a fool out of myself - this shit needed to be taken seriously. "I'm not going to sit and pretend like I have the best parental skills and that I know exactly what I'm doing, however if I knew there was a chance I was going to lose Lily, or this little one," I patted my stomach, "then I would have done whatever it took to keep them in my life. If they wanted space, I'd give them that space. You cannot tell Lily that she'd understand in time, because it doesn't take a Goddamn genius to work out what is the right thing to do."

"Everybody parents their kids differently. What I do and what I think is right, won't be the same as you or the lady that lives down the road."

_Oh, for fucks sake. I give up. No matter what we say, she'll never bloody understand._

"Well how about we make an agreement now?" Lily must have taken her chill pills, 'cause that kid was as cool as a fucking cucumber. "If we can understand what the other one wants, we could stick to that and maybe this won't need to happen again?"

I took a quick glance over at Edward, who had the proudest smile across his face. Kid was by far the smartest one in the room. She better join the debate team, 'cause she knew just how to work a conflict.

"For example, the main thing I want is to change my surname. I want to become Lillian Cullen, and if I could get your consent then I promise I won't ask you for anything else."

Lauren seemed less eager to add in her two cents, and looked anywhere other than at her pleading daughter. It didn't take Eric long to nudge her out of her silence. "Love, Lillian is being exceedingly reasonable despite the circumstances." I had a feeling Old Man River was as sick and tired of this whole thing as I was.

Even Bossman, who had calmed down after his outburst, sat forward in his seat and tried to reason with the lady across the room. "I realize that what she is asking must be hard for you - if I was in your position I'm sure I'd feel just the same, but after everything that she has been through, agreeing to this is the least that you could do." Lauren continued to study her perfectly manicured nails like a moody teenager.

With a loud sigh, Edward tired a new tactic. "This conflict between us has been going on for sixteen years - since the day she was born we have been arguing about it, yet despite our differences we seemed to make it work for a few years, and then it all just... stopped. I should have called my lawyer and got a court case involved; I should have done whatever it took to get my voice heard and to sort this mess out, but I wasn't the most important person. What Lily deserves is to live in a house with a family that loves her and knows exactly how to care for her, and I thought you provided that.

And now you need to think the same thing - what does she deserve? You say we all parent our children in different ways, and I completely agree with you there, but you have to be honest with yourself; did you treat her with the love and respect that every child needs? Did you put her first with every decision, and did you support her when it came to making choices? Think about what she deserves, and what the right thing is to do."

_Christ, that hit me right in the heart. Thank God I didn't put mascara on today, 'cause it would be all down my cheeks. _

"At least think it over Mom, please?"

Lauren turned to look at Old Man River, and simply announced, "I think it's time that we leave."

"What? You're going to leave just like that? After everything we've just spoken about?" Lily looked on the verge of tears, but I had a feeling they were angry tears instead of sad.

"I've given you the answers that you wanted, and in regards to your latest demand you said I could think about it. So that is exactly what I am going to do."

"And when are we going to hear back from you?"

"Once I have made up my mind, Lillian."

My blood was ready to boil. From the way she had acted I had thought Lauren had changed slightly, and the realism had made itself known to her, but apparently not. No matter what we say or do, Lauren Mallory will always be a spiteful bitch who thinks about no-one else apart from herself. Especially not her own flesh and blood. I often wonder what Eric sees in her, because it definitely cannot be her personality.

"And so that's it? Why did you even come here in the first place if you're going to leave half way through the conversation?" Bossman's moods had been going up and down like a damn rollercoaster.

"I came here to see my daughter - seeing as we weren't getting anything over the phone."

"Bullshit." Lily piped up, "You state that you came here to see me but then leave after ten minutes? Have you taken in anything we've said today? Or has it gone in one ear and out the other?"

"I have listened to you, Lillian, and I am going to think over what we said. And then once I have given it some thought I will get back in contact with you. But you need to accept our phone calls this time..." I think that was Lauren's attempt at cracking a joke, but nobody smiled apart from her.

"I'll accept phone calls, as long as I give permission for you to have my number, and you don't get Brody Sharpe to sniff around my private life again."

It seemed as though Lauren and Lily had made an agreement. Even Eric seemed surprised at their sudden departure, but before they left Lily wrote down her number on a piece of paper but made them understand that if they repeated the same shit again she wouldn't be as understanding.

"Well that was strange..." I mumbled once we had closed the door on them. I felt as though we had cleared some things up, but I didn't feel completely satisfied. I guess that will always happen when it comes to Lauren Mallory - she'll give you the answers you need, but will leave you with more questions to think about.

"Well I don't know about you, Dad, but I'm going to the gym." Kid collected her school bags which had been thrown to the floor by the stairs, and began to walk up to her room.

"Lily?" Edward's calling had kid stop in her step and turn around. "I am really proud of you, Sweetheart. You handled that incredibly well - better then I did." Lily dropped her bags again in order to run down the stairs to accept Edward's hug. "But if you need to talk about it at any point, don't hesitate to come to Bella or I."

"You got it."

Once Lily had gone up the stairs I slumped against Edward with an exhausted sigh. Today had been long and tiring, and I couldn't wait to put this baby to bed. Maybe I'll get some sleep tonight? Doubt it.

"Are you okay?"

"Mhmm... can we have a cheat night? Pizza and ice cream?" Surprisingly enough Bossman and I had been eating healthier recently, and Siobhan had made us some delicious meals. However everyone needs a cheat night every now and then.

"That sounds like a good idea; I'll tell Siobhan not to bother coming over tonight. So what are you thinking... pepperoni passion?"

I nodded my head against his broad shoulder. "Cheese stuffed crust. With extra pepperoni. And a tub of phish food. Maybe two." Bossman should have known that order. When my cravings for junk food kick in, I always go for the same shit.

"I'll place that order right now."

"My hero," I swooned, "what would I do without you, Boss?"

Edward looked up from his phone with a smirk, "order your own pizza?"

I gasped, "I can't even bear to think about such a thing!"

That is what I love most about our relationship. We could have had a really shit day (like today) but then we could snap back into our usual manner almost instantly.

_0-0_

**BELLA - **_37 weeks pregnant (9 months)_

Everyday life had become very challenging. Baby Bossman was now apparently fully grown and in just a few weeks I was finally going to meet him or her. But because of the weight I was now carrying I struggled in doing the smallest thing, like climbing a set of stairs or even getting out of bed. If Edward was in the same room then he offered his help, but if I was alone then it usually took three-four attempts before I was fully standing. The Braxton Hicks contractions started a couple of weeks ago, but I was told that I'd be fully aware when the _real contractions _started, so for now that didn't worry me.

As soon as I reached 8 months I was put onto maternity leave. It wasn't my decision, but both Edward and Carlisle agreed that it would be much safer for me to stay at home instead of traveling to Manhattan every day. After a while I understood their reasoning behind it. With Edward snowed under with work for the company and training himself and Lily, I used my maternity leave to get the nursery properly set up. I had Siobhan at my side the entire time, and together we managed to change a spare bedroom, into a beautiful nursery. Because we didn't know the sex of the baby we went for very neutral colors - grey, cream and with a little touch of yellow. We had all the furniture delivered and Edward had a field day putting it all together and moving them into their correct places.

Lily's uncertainty towards Baby Bossman quickly disappeared and now she was just as excited as we were. There were days where we would sit down and discuss all the changes that were going on inside me; Bossman turned into a little girl and couldn't cope with anything too graphic, but Lily seemed as hard as nails and nothing phased her. She also helped us pick a boys name and a girls name. She was desperate to let Siobhan into our secret, but we wanted it to be a surprise for everybody.

Lily's sudden boost of happiness may have had something to do with the phone call she received from Lauren a few weeks after their sudden arrival. Lauren said that she had thought long and hard over Lily's request to change her surname, but finally agreed. Papers have been sent out for her to sign, and as soon as they return back to us we'll get that ball rolling.

Things were starting to fall into place and baby's arrival was only a few weeks away... or that is what we thought, at least.

It all started this morning when I woke up with the worst back pain known to man. Braxton Hicks had caused some slight back pain and adjusting the way I sat usually calmed them down, but this time nothing seemed to ease it. Edward was downstairs in his office and Siobhan was working in the house somewhere - both of them insisted that I called them if I needed any help.

I put all my weight onto my pregnancy pillow and somehow managed to fall back to sleep until I was forced awake by a searing pain that ran across my abdomen and down into my legs.

_"__Fuck, fuck, fuck," _I breathed in and out deeply. _Shit, this is bad. This is really bad. _"Edward!" I called as loud as I could all whilst trying to control my breathing. Nobody responded to my calling and so I used up all my energy in reaching over to my iPhone. My hands shook as I struggled to find Edward's number.

He answered almost instantly. _"Bella?"_

Thankfully the contraction eased up before I could voice my reply. "Edward, I need your help... please."

_"__I'm on my way up."_

The pain had subsided, but I still had that pulling feeling in my stomach. There was no doubt that Baby Bossman had had enough in there and wanted to meet us.

"Sweetheart, are you okay?" Edward came straight over to the bed.

"I think this is it."

Bossman's eyes practically bulged out of his head, "holy shit. Are you sure?"

I had to laugh, 'cause he would not be asking me that if he felt what I was feeling. "Yes, I'm pretty fucking sure."

"Right... what do we do? What can I do?"

"Can you help me up? I was told to stay active and walk around." He didn't hesitate when it came to standing me up from the bed. "We need to phone the hospital and let them know. Can you get my bag packed whilst I phone them?"

"Of course, love."

I had the hospital programmed onto my phone and a lady answered after only a few short rings. She asked me for my details and then asked how far apart my contractions were, and how I was feeling. Just as I thought she told me to stay home until my contractions were somewhere between 4-6 minutes apart, and I was to phone back when that happened.

Once my bag was packed Edward helped me down the stairs so that we weren't stuck in our bedroom. Of course a fucking contraction had to hit halfway down the damn staircase, and so for a minute or two I stood there gripping onto the banister praying that the pain would soon fade. Edward kept a supportive arm around me, and Angus also joined us at that moment. His adorable little _'mew' _ let us know he was there and offered his comfort as much as a cat could.

"Breathe deeply; you'll be okay." Edward offered me his hand to grip onto, but I wanted to save his hand for later when the real work began, so I didn't want to damage it just yet.

"Oh my goodness," Siobhan gasped at the top of the stairs, I didn't pay much attention to anything until I felt another set of hands on my back. "Is there anything I can do to assist?"

"I need to phone Lily and tell her what's happening. Siobhan, could you stay with Bella whilst I do that?"

Again I zoned out at that point. I felt a kiss to my cheek, but I didn't pay attention to anything that was said. Siobhan held my arm as we continued our way down the stairs and Angus stayed at my feet the entire time.

"Is there anything I can get you, Sweetheart? Some hot tea? Something to eat?"

"No, thank you but I'm fine..."

Siobhan looked at me with compassionate eyes and a sweet smile, "you're going to be just fine, my darling. You are incredibly tough and even something like labor isn't going to make you crumble."

_0-0_

For six hours I was stuck in that situation, and I swear it was the longest six hours of my life. Edward was certain that once my first contraction hit the baby would arrive almost instantly, so he started getting a bit agitated that nothing was happening. We tried to watch some Netflix to pass the time, and he even allowed me to watch Orange Is The New Black. What a keeper.

"At least I'm not in prison; I could be in Daya's position right now." Edward held a rather confused expression on his face. I forgot he didn't know the characters as well as I did. "Never mind," I waved him off.

We watched two episodes of season 4, because I don't think Bossman could take much more of it, and then switched it to something else. That was when my contractions started inching closer together so it no longer mattered what we had on TV; I wasn't watching it anyway.

After those six grueling hours we were finally allowed to go. Lily had returned from school by that time and she was adamant about coming with us, however Bossman made her bring some school work with her so that she could pass the time by studying.

"Are you ready?" Bossman smirked as he started the car engine.

"Ready for a baby to come shooting out of my vagina? Ready as I'll ever be."

_0-0_

**Of course the next chapter will start off in the hospital and we'll finally be meeting Baby Bossman! We only have about 3-4 chapters left of this story (one of them being an epilogue of sorts) so expect time jumps from now on.**

**I have said this on my Facebook group (RosieRathbone FanFiction) but for those of you who don't follow me there can I please ask you NOT to comment or send me messages stating how long it has been since my last update. I realize they are not weekly chapters, but there is not much I can do about that and reminding me every day isn't going to get a chapter out faster. **

**Thanks for reading. Please let me know what you thought. **


	40. Siblings

**At first I was going to name this chapter after Baby Bossman, but then I realized that that would have given away their gender and their name. But are you ready to meet the new arrival...?**

**CHAPTER FORTY**

**BELLA**

"Isabella, how are you feeling?" The doctor asked me as she checked the information on my chart.

"I feel as though a human is attempting vacate by body via my pee shoot." I could feel Bossman rolling his eyes at my flippant response, but he wasn't the one having a fucking baby. I should be able to say whatever I damn wanted to say. "But apart from that, Doc, I feel quite at home."

_Except Angus isn't here. It isn't home without Angus. Why won't they let cats into the maternity ward? _

"I see the pain relief has already kicked in?"

"Yes," Bossman laughed. God, he's hot when he laughs. "I never knew it affected her in this way."

"Thank God for epidurals and all that, but if someone comes at me with that needle again I may have to use a few of your moves on them, Boss. Fucking hell, I can still feel it!"

Edward took my hand and smiled down at me, "well I hope you can't, Bella, otherwise it isn't doing it's job properly."

"Don't tell me what I can and cannot feel! You've never been in my position before!"

"Dad," Lily appeared at Edward's side, "I think we should leave Bella to rest for a minute. She clearly isn't making much sense."

"See, at least your daughter has a brain..."

So according to the doctor I was now nine centimeters dilated. Whenever a contraction hit I had a strong need to push, but I had to hold on just a little more until that nine turned into a ten. My water broke once I was settled in the bed and at first I thought I had pissed myself, which wouldn't have been the first time that had happened mind you. Although I couldn't feel any pain (thanks to my good friend Epidural) that didn't mean that I couldn't feel anything at all, and the pulling/grasping feeling that continued on in my abdomen was a constant reminder that I was minutes away from pushing Baby Bossman into the world.

"Edward..." I reached my arm out and searched blindly for his hand. His linked his fingers with mine and used his spare hand to rub the back of mine.

"Can I do anything to help you? I hate seeing you like this, but the prize we get at the end is more than worth it."

"Could you promise me one thing?" I breathed in and out deeply and tensed my body up in order to stop the need to push, but Christ it was hard.

"Of course."

"Can you promise me that you'll never knock me up again? I love you, I love Lily and I love this baby... but God, I can't go through this again."

Edward bent over to kiss my forehead and my lips, "let's focus on what is happening right now. We can discuss the future later."

"I don't think my answer is going to change..."

My words were cut off when a nurse came back into the room to see how things were getting on. She checked my lady area and was happy to announce that I was officially fully dilated. It was action stations and everyone got into their position. They helped my get my feet up into the stirrups and from that moment on my vagina was on show to everybody. Funny thing was when I had watched TV shows or movies before now, and it showed somebody having a baby, I thought I would have felt so uncomfortable with them playing around down there and staring at my vagina like they were simply looking at my face, but in all honesty I couldn't give a shit. I focused on Baby Bossman, not on the professional personnel how had probably done this multiple times a day.

"Up until now, Bella, you have been resisting the urge to push, but when you feel your next contraction I want you to push as hard as you can, okay? Take big, deep breaths and focus entirely on pushing."

I grasped a hold of Edward's hand, "I'm gonna poo myself!" I moaned as I squeezed his hands tighter. Lily was on my other side, rubbing my shoulder, laughing softly to herself.

The same nurse continued to talk, "trust me Bella, it is perfectly normal for that to happen during childbirth. Once you start pushing you won't be focusing on anything else apart from your baby."

I looked up at Edward and into his eyes that glistened with unshed tears. "Will you be honest with me and tell me if I shit the bed? Or fart in that nurses' face?"

"I can if you really want me to." Edward laughed deeply and dropped down to kiss my forehead. Things were seconds away from starting and to have his constant comfort and support helped me more than I could say. I had my two favorite people beside me and I knew they were going to help me through it all, and wouldn't leave me for a second.

As I started to push, I felt my hand grip tighter and tighter around Edward's. I could hear the nurses saying something, but I didn't pay too much attention until I stopped pushing for a minute. "You are doing so well, Bella." Lily spoke delicately, 'cause she's too goddamn cute.

"We're so proud of how well you are doing," Edward agreed with his daughter, "and I'm impressed with how much strength you've got. I'll be lucky if I can use this hand again."

I knew Bossman was joking, but I was in no mood to joke around. I turned my head slowly to the left in order to look my other-half in the eye. "I'm trying to push a watermelon through a donut hole right now. You're a professional boxer - you should be used to pain. Take it like a fucking man, Cullen."

_0-0_

_Oh, my God... _

_Holy fuck..._

_Oh, my God... _

_I just had a baby!_

One second I was using all of my energy trying to release this child from within me, and then the next it all seemed to just... stop, and the most beautiful, high-pitched cry filled the room. Bossman was hugging me, kissing me and thanking me... but nothing seemed more important than that tiny, tiny baby who the nurses had taken away from me to clean. _Come back... _

"Congratulations, you have a healthy baby girl..."

_A girl... Baby Bossman, my daughter. _

I looked over to Edward, who had the biggest smile spread across his face. He was not one to show his emotions, but on the arrival of our daughter he didn't even try to stop the tears that pooled in his eyes. "A little girl..." I whispered as I felt my own tears begin to slip down my cheeks.

Bossman wrapped me in his arms and with his head close to mine he whispered, "thank you. Thank you for giving me this beautiful little girl, and for making our family complete. I love you with everything that I am, and I'll make sure to remind you of that every single day."

"Would you like to hold her?" We broke apart and looked up at the nurse who now held our new arrival.

_Would I like to hold her? Nah, just leave her on the side - I'll get her in a minute... Of course I'd like to hold her! _

_Christ._

As Baby Bossman was lowered into my arms, Edward went around to the other side of the bed to hold our other daughter. Just that image alone, of the two of them hugging, caused another round of tears. My ovaries were bound to explode at the sight of him holding our baby. Talking about our baby, the second she was placed into my arms the biggest rush of love and protection soared through me. The love I felt for her through the nine months of my pregnancy felt like nothing compared to now, which I could not get my head around. Everybody had told me that that would happen, but I didn't believe them up until that point.

This tiny, tiny baby depended on us for absolutely everything. They would look up to Edward, Lily and I as role models, and everything we do she'd copy and learn from. That thrilled me, yet terrified me all at the same time.

"She looks just like you..." I heard Edward say to Lily.

"Really?"

"Yep. She's your double. My two gorgeous daughters."

_Fuck, Bossman, my heart cannot take much more of this!_

"Do you want to know what I think?" Lily bent down beside me and held her sister's tiny curled hand between her thumb and finger, "I think she suits her name perfectly."

"You are absolutely right, Kid." I placed a delicate kiss on Baby Bossman's forehead, "Olivia Charlotte Cullen..."

_0-0_

I startled awake with a gasp. _Where's my baby? Where's Olivia? _My panic settled as I caught sight of a sleeping Bossman with Olivia cradled safely in his arms. Yep, my ovaries were well and truly gone. Blown to smithereens. _Boom. _The time on the clock said that it was shortly past two in the morning, which meant that Olivia was officially three hours old, and my unexpected nap had lasted no more than an hour.

"Don't worry; I've already taken a photo of them." I almost crapped my pants when Lily suddenly spoke.

"What are you doing awake, Kid?"

Lily scrunched up her nose in a face of disapproval. "I can't rate these chairs as being the comfiest thing I've ever slept on... It's okay; I'll catch up on sleep when we go home."

"Please, don't talk shit. C'mere." My bottom half was still trying to recover after I pushed a baby out between my legs, but I managed to shuffle myself to the side of the bed which left enough space for Lily to lie with me.

"Bella, honestly, I'm okay. Don't make yourself uncomfortable because of me."

"How about if I promise to tell you if I'm _really _uncomfortable? Will you come up here then? You know you won't be able to fight me on this..."

"Fine..."

Lily kicked off her shoes before coming to lie on the bed. She snuggled up to my side and I stroked her fiery hair contently in hope it would soothe her to sleep. "You're going to be an amazing mom, Bella," she whispered, still with her eyes closed.

Thank God her eyes were closed, otherwise she would have seen the fresh round of tears. I'd lost count how many times I had cried in the space of three hours. "You think so?"

"Of course." Lily looked up at me then, but simply smiled at my emotional state. "You take such good care of me; I have no doubt that you would take even better care of your own child."

"Miss Lillian, let me tell you something... I may not be your biological mother, but that doesn't mean that I don't see you as my daughter, and that I won't love you or care for you as much as Baby Bossman. Except she will need a little more caring... 'cause I'm fairly certain you can wipe your own ass."

Lily smothered her laugh in her hand. "Yes, after sixteen years of being alive I can happily announce that I can wipe my own ass."

"So I appreciate you saying what you did, but please don't say that I'll take even better care of her, because I will take care of you both just as equally, but in your own special ways. Okay?"

"Okay."

I wanted to bend down and kiss Lily on her crown, but my body physically did not allow me to make that sort of movement, so I went back to stroking her hair instead. "Talking about caring for you two, I suggest you get as much sleep as possible, because I have a feeling someone is going to wake up soon and cry out for my boob... and it could be a tight squeeze when that happens. And I'm not talking about your father, although it wouldn't be the first time he's cried out for my boobs..."

"Thanks, Bella. Leave me scarred with those mental pictures just as I'm about to fall asleep."

It didn't take me long to fall asleep either, but just as imagined I awoke the second that Olivia began to cry. Edward was already trying to shush her, but we all knew this little one wanted something that he couldn't provide.

_Aah, like mother like daughter. Constantly on the hunt for food. _

"I think Mommy has something for you, Little One..." He stood carefully from the seat and stepped over to the bed and that was when he noticed Lily. "Oh... what have I missed?"

Fortunately, from the way that I sat, I could hold Baby Bossman without disturbing Lily. "She was exhausted, so I made her come and sleep here with me. How are you feeling? Are you okay?" When I readied myself to feed Olivia I noticed how my boobs were ready before I was. I found it incredible that her cry would impact them that much.

"You've just given me my second child and you're asking me if I'm okay? Yes, Bella, I think it's safe to say I'm 'okay'." He reached over the side of the bed to kiss me, Lily and Olivia all in turn. "My three beautiful girls."

_Lily and Olivia._

_Our children._

Olivia latched onto my boob pretty easily, and as she suckled away I stared in awe at how incredible she was. The soft downy hair that fanned out across her head. Her tiny little pursed lips, stained with a rosy tint, and her button nose which I watched in amusement as it twitched. And her eyes - her large, deep blue eyes. I hoped she had inherited Edward's eye color of emerald green, instead of my dull brown.

"Bella?" I broke my gaze to look over at Edward, he had moved his seat across to the bed to be closer to us.

"Yeah?"

"I never met Charlie - and I wish I had - but I can just tell that he'd be so proud of you, because I am."

I put my free arm around Olivia to hold her as my body shook with my silent sobs. Crap, I'd tried to go an hour without another fit of tears. "I hope so..." I mumbled.

"I know he would. I can also imagine he is sitting up there now with a gun aimed straight at me?"

My tears quickly turned into laughs, "you're probably right, but Charlie would have loved you. He'd have much preferred if I'd ran off to a nunnery, or wore a chastity belt my entire life, but knowing that you love me and that you take brilliant care of me would be enough for him to accept you."

"I do - I do love you, and I promise to always take care of you. And one day, Miss Swan, I will marry you and I will look after you for the rest of our lives. You, me, Lily and little Olivia."

_0-0_

The following evening we were sent home and we were all thankful that our family and friends chose to wait until we had arrived home before paying a visit. Siobhan had worked her magic and a fresh cake had been made to help celebrate Olivia's arrival, and if we were hungry there was dinner in the fridge which we could reheat when the time came.

Edward's parents were the first to arrive with Princess Cullen and Macho Man Muscles a close second. Esme and Rosalie instantly came to Lily and I for hugs and to congratulate us, where as Carlisle and Emmett stayed with Edward. They swapped handshakes and manly pats on the backs.

"How are you feeling, darling? Have you had enough sleep?" I had only met Esme a couple of times in the few years that I had been working with Edward, yet no matter how long it had been she always treats me the same way, and with a caring smile to go along with it.

"I could easily fall asleep now, but Olivia has so far been very well behaved and Lily has been the best big sister - allowing us the chance to sleep as she watches over." I saw the proud smile that Rosalie passed to her niece and she arm she slipped around her shoulders.

Esme rocked Olivia and took in her every detail. "Babies are such miracle workers; they make the dullest of days seem the brightest. It only feels like yesterday that I was rocking Edward this way and you, Rose, watched over him like the concerned toddler you were."

Rosalie was next in line for a cuddle and it was funny to see how her mood completely changed. I've always known her as the dragon-like ladyboss who stared down on everyone and never took their feelings into consideration, but throw a baby into the works and she turns into the sweetest, most gentle woman who is nothing but smiles and laughter.

"Hello..." She cooed as Olivia's eyes slowly blinked open, "aren't you just beautiful with those big dark eyes..."

The guys finally made their way over to us, but the stood very patiently and waited until Rosalie was done before they had their turn at holding Baby Bossman.

"Edward was telling me the idea behind her name," Carlisle spoke to me, "and I think that was a lovely thing to do."

I smiled, "thank you, but it was very much Lily's suggestion."

"What was this?" Esme broke in, "what have I missed?"

"I wanted to include my father, Charlie, in the name somehow but Edward and I were set on the name Olivia for a girl, so Lily suggested that her middle name could be Charlotte and it just seemed to fit perfectly."

"Oh Bella, that is beautiful - and a wonderful way to remember your father, also. And how about your mother? Did she react well to the news?"

Edward helped me find a seat in the living room and I waited until we were all settled before answering the question. "Surprisingly so. She had remembered that I had told her I was pregnant - which I didn't think was going to happen -, however Phil said he didn't want her to go on any long trips by herself at the moment, so hopefully towards the end of the month he'll be able to accompany her."

"You know what I think?" Emmett now had the baby, and someone as large as him holding someone as small as Olivia was a very funny sight. "I think this kid is going to be a badass - especially if she is anything like her sister - so she needs a badass name. Like Olive..."

"Olive?" I copied.

"Yeah! I think it's cool, and works well as a nickname."

_I have to admit, it is a sweet name... My Little Olive..._

"How about we let Edward and Bella decide her nickname, yeah?" Rosalie patted her partners broad arm but she couldn't fight the smile that was on her face.

Alice, Jasper and Angela were next to arrive. The large living room suddenly felt very crowded, and I think Olivia could sense that. Before she was passed over to Alice, Olivia began to cry. And when I say 'cry' I mean 'scream the place down'. Emmett handed her over to Esme, who tried to use the Grandma touch, but nothing seemed to work and so Esme admitted defeat and handed her back over to Edward. Olivia stopped crying instantly.

Angela suggested that we did the presents at that moment, in case Olivia was done for the night and we could no longer be as sociable as we had originally wished to be.

We had warned people not to get her anything too sentimental, because that was being planned for Christmas in a few months time, and so it seemed as though everyone went down the same route unknowingly. From Esme and Carlisle we received a white onesie that had the "Hello, my name is..." sticker printed in pink, and the name Olivia looked as though it had been Sharpied on in the middle.

"How did you get that done so quickly?" I asked, holding it up for all to see.

"I have a friend who makes them. I may have had to pay her a little more to get it done so quickly..."

Edward still cradled Olivia, so I was in charge of opening all the gifts. Along with a white teddy bear, Esme and Carlisle also gave us a little pair of baby mitts and a white bobble hat. A boxing glove was printed on each mitt, and the word 'BRUISER' had been printed around the rim of the hat. As much as I disagree with Olivia taking part in that dreadful sport, I had to admit that the hat and gloves were awfully cute and clever - seeing as Edward's boxer name was 'The Bruiser'.

We thanked them both for their gifts, and moved to the next bag. It belonged to Angela and she admitted straight up that she had no idea what to buy for Baby Bossman, so thought about my likes and dislikes and went from there. The first onesie had a filled taco shell on the front with a little smiley face, and the words 'Taco 'Bout Cute' written over top, and the second one was a black onesie with the words 'My Disney Princess Name is Taco Belle'. Anyone who knows me would know how much I adore Taco Bell, so these were the perfect presents.

Emmett and Rosalie were up next. Their bag included dribble bibs, socks and a blanket, but also some clothing as well. The first one was a bright orange onesie that said "Womb County; I just did 9 months on the inside" - a brilliant hint towards my love for 'Orange Is The New Black', and second was a large grey t-shirt that had the words 'I Make Adorable Babies' on the front, and then a small grey onesie with the words 'Adorable Baby'.

"It didn't specify whether it was a male or female shirt, so as long as it's not too big or too small I guess you both could wear it."

"This is fantastic," I smiled up at Rosalie, "we're going to have such fun wearing them."

The last bag belonged to Alice and Jasper and inside were two separately wrapped parcels. We opened the larger one first and on tearing the paper I spotted three different t-shirts, all various sizes. The smallest one said 'Baby Boss', the middle one said 'Mini Boss' and the largest said 'Boss Lady'.

"_Alice," _I tried my best not to laugh and wake up Olivia, "these are incredible."

Alice smiled and shrugged her shoulders. "I thought you, Lily and Olivia could wear them. You had Bossman, and now you have Boss Family. Oh, and this last one I bought weeks ago... so technically it should be for a boy, but I couldn't say not to it."

Intrigued, I pulled back the sides of the paper to reveal another white t-shirt - quite clearly for Olivia - and on the front were the words 'Little Boss Man'.

_0-0_

The first couple of weeks were probably the hardest two weeks I had ever experienced. Taking care of Olive (Emmett's nickname stuck like glue) is the most rewarding thing I have ever done, but it all adds up when you get no sleep, you can barely put her down without her crying, and simply going to the toilet has become a daily mission. Unless she is settled and comfortable in her bassinet, I don't dare leave the room. I had to do it once, otherwise I would have pissed my pants, but she screamed and screamed the entire time. It was not worth it.

Edward returned to work after those two weeks, but he still only took half days or worked from home in his office. On the days that Edward had to be somewhere in the evening, Lily was my rock. She was a natural at looking after her sister and it allowed me the chance to have a shower and freshen up without the worry of leaving Olive alone. I started having showers in the morning before Edward left for work, but if Olive had me up all night then I'd tend to wait until Lily returned from school before I had one.

Siobhan and Esme helped out whenever they could too. I swear they plan these things together, because they both turn up at exactly the same time and announce that they were there to save the day. I couldn't have survived the fortnight if it wasn't for my amazing family around me.

I found myself talking to Olive more than I talked to someone who could actually respond. Like in the mornings when I go and get her from her bassinet.

"Good morning, Princess Olive." I'd coo down at her and kiss her flushed cheeks multiple times. "And how are we today?"

Or when it came to changing her shit-filled diapers. "Have you left mommy a little gift? oh why thank you; that was very kind of you. Do you think you could leave one like this for Daddy? He always gets away with cleaning up the smallest mess... I think you're taking sides, Miss Olivia."

Or my favorites times - when Olivia has fallen into her milk-induced slumber and I get to sit there and watch her. "You amaze me each and every day. I often wonder how I came to be this lucky, I get to love you, and Daddy and Miss Lily, but I don't know what I did to deserve all of that."

With the tip of my finger I gently traced around her face. "I cannot promise to be the best mother in the world, and I know I will slip up in places, but I can promise to put you and Lily before anything else. I can also promise to love you with everything that I am, because you are worth it. You, and Lily and Daddy - you are all worth it. I didn't expect to have all of this, but I'm not going to change that for the world. "

_0-0 _

**And there we have it... if you would like to see the collage I made for Olivia then please head on over to my Facebook group (RosieRathbone FanFiction) **

**We only have 2 chapters left of this story, so please start saying your goodbyes now..**

**So what are you thoughts? Did you have a favourite moment? Mine was definitely the conversation between Bella and Lily. So cute. **


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